Time flies to the end of the year, and another heavy snowfall covers Jingzhao City, turning Jingzhao City into a snowy world again.
There are only three days left for the New Year. Today is the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. Door charms are posted on every household, poles are erected in the yard, Tusu wine is brewed, the offering table is set, and the tributes are served.
Today is also the last day to go to court. Tomorrow will be a holiday until the fifth day of the first lunar month. The new year of going to court will begin on the sixth day of the first lunar month. However, at noon on the first day of the first lunar month, there will be a New Year's banquet, hosted by King Yong Chen Qing.
, this is a tradition that has continued for many years.
Early in the morning, Chen Qing, Jiang Yanxian, Zhou Kuan, and Zhang Miao got on a large carriage and inspected Jingzhao City under the New Year atmosphere.
The snow on the street was swept cleanly, and children setting off firecrackers were seen everywhere. The children put on new clothes, and groups of children ran happily on the street.
"Every time I look at groups of children, I always feel very comfortable and I always feel like I see hope!"
Zhou Kuan sighed: "I'm afraid of seeing deserted streets or seeing a group of gray-haired old men. I feel very panicked and feel that there is no future."
Zhang Miao smiled and said: "That means you are old!"
"Nonsense! I'm only in my early sixties, twenty years younger than Lian Po!"
Everyone laughed, and Chen Qing said with a smile: "As the saying goes, having an old man in the family is like a treasure, and the same is true in the court. With experienced veterans sitting in charge, we will not take detours or be radical, and we will always be able to follow our own rules.
The rhythm of moving forward step by step.”
"Then according to His Highness's rhythm, when will we attack Shandong Road?" Jiang Yanxian asked with a smile.
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "I also want to attack Shandong Road early so that we are close to the sea, but I am more concerned about the situation of the Jin Kingdom. Don't you find it strange? We captured the Central Plains, but the Jin Kingdom's court seemed to have no reaction.
We also didn’t send more troops to Hebei Road and Shandong Road, which is very abnormal!”
"What do you think the reason is, Your Highness?"
Chen Qing said slowly: "I think the attention of the Jin Kingdom is still on the grassland. This is the third year of the Jin Kingdom's attack on the Mengwu tribe. The Jin Kingdom has not paid attention to us. It should be the most critical moment of the attack on the grassland.
"
"We'd better understand the situation on the grassland. Once the Jin Kingdom conquers the grassland, their military base will expand a lot, and the pressure on us will be great."
Chen Qing nodded, "I heard that there is a caravan coming from the grassland in Jingzhao, but I don't know where they are? I have arranged internal guards to look for them. If we can find this caravan, we may get some news."
After a pause, Chen Qing continued: "Speaking of the source of troops, in this battle in the Central Plains, we found that there were many Koreans in the opponent's army. At first we thought they were Bohai people, but later we found that the military cards were wrong, and they were Koreans.
I suspect that the Jin Kingdom may have obtained its military resources from Goryeo."
"What about signing for the army?"
Zhou Kuandao: "If the Jurchens recruit Han troops from Yanshan Road, Hebei Road and Shandong Road, wouldn't the source of troops be wider?"
Chen Qing said with a smile: "From so many years of dealing with each other, only Wanyanchang trusts the Han soldiers more. The other Jurchens, including Wanyan Wushu, do not trust the Han people. They do not trust the Han people from the bottom of their hearts. Because of their distrust,
Therefore, the treatment of the signed troops is very poor. If the treatment is poor, the morale of the signed troops will not be high, they will cherish their lives in battle, and they will easily collapse. In turn, Wanyan Wushu will not trust the signed troops even more, forming a vicious circle."
"But Li Cheng's army is very powerful. His Highness praised him very much last time and praised him for his skill in training troops."
Chen Qing did not deny it, "Li Cheng is special. The army he has is really good. It can be said that he is the only signing army that Wanyan Wushu values. I am considering using countermeasures to get rid of Li Cheng, but I guess it will not be easy to succeed."
As everyone talked, the carriage came to Dongdawazi. They wanted to know for themselves the price situation before the Chinese New Year.
………
There is a Yuanda Inn in Xianyang. It is located in a relatively remote location on the northeast official road outside the city. Because it is outside the city, the inn has a large area, especially a livestock pen covering an area of 20 acres. It is very popular with merchants from the Western Regions.
However, it snowed heavily, and a large tent was set up in the livestock pen, and the animals all lived in the tent.
After October, the number of guests in the inn decreased a lot, and everyone who could walk left. They returned to their respective hometowns before the heavy snowfall, and waited until the turn of spring and summer next year to come back.
There are also three groups of merchants living in the inn, all of whom are Hu people. One group is Uighur merchants from Gaochang, one group is from the more distant Sogdian merchants, and seven or eight guests are Mongol merchants from the grasslands. That's right.
, what Chen Qing is looking for is this group of businessmen. They mainly came to Jingzhao relatively late, in September. The goods in their hands are not easy to sell, mainly because they cannot sell at a high price.
The goods of Mongol merchants are mainly leather, sheepskin or cowhide, horsehide, etc., which conflicts with the goods of the Hexi Corridor. Especially in the past two years, a large number of sheep have been brought out of the sheep in the river valleys in various places, bringing a large number of sheepskins, which has increased the number of sheepskins on the market.
The price is very cheap.
Although the sheepskins in the hands of the Mongolian merchants were of high quality, the amount of sheepskins on the market was too large, and no matter how high the quality was, the sheepskins could not be sold at a high price. The price of sheepskins was even cheaper than in Datong Prefecture, which made these Mongolian merchants very depressed.
They also consider that the price of sheepskin may rise after the weather gets colder, so they have been waiting patiently for the cold weather. As a result, they will not be able to go back this winter and can only celebrate the New Year in Jingzhao.
In the afternoon, the innkeeper Ding hurriedly came back from outside. Behind him were more than a dozen internal guards. The magistrate of Xianyang issued notices to all inns to look for Mongol merchants. Anyone with information must report it to the county government immediately.
So shopkeeper Ding went to the county government office early in the morning and waited for almost two hours before the internal guards arrived and took the internal guards back to the inn.
"Aren't we going to arrest them?" Shopkeeper Ding was very worried. These Mongol businessmen still owed him a sum of money for accommodation that they had not yet paid!
The leading inner guard laughed and said, "I'm not arresting them, I just want to ask them about some information."
Shopkeeper Ding was relieved and led everyone up to the second floor. He came to the room of the Mongolian guest and shouted: "Yinbalu!"
Soon, a very burly Mongol man, about forty years old, who could speak Chinese, walked out of the house. He asked, "What's the matter with the shopkeeper?"
Shopkeeper Ding pointed to the internal guards behind him and said, "They are looking for you to ask about the situation!"
"Who are they?"
For the capital, he stepped forward and said: "We are the internal guards. Are you businessmen from the Mongolian tribe in the grassland?"
"we are!"
The inner guard asked politely: "When did you set off and when did you get here?"
"We set out in July and arrived here in September."
The inner guard nodded, "Please come with us! We don't mean any harm. His Highness King Yong wants to know about the situation on the grassland."
The big man was stunned, "Your Highness, King Yong, wants to see me?"
"Exactly!"
"Okay! I'll go, I'll take my brothers with you."
Their goods could not be sold at high prices, and they were still counting on His Highness King Yong to help them sell their goods. They took a few leather samples and followed the inner guards to Jingzhao City.
………
Chen Qing met two Mongol businessmen in the official room. The two knelt down and paid homage, "This villain is Yin Balu, and that is my brother Yin Erhan. See His Highness King Yong!"
"Both of you, please get up!"
Chen Qing asked the two of them to stand up. He saw that both of them were about two meters tall and extremely strong, like two huge rocks. He was a little surprised. If the Mongols were so strong, once they were conquered by the Jurchens, they would face a formidable enemy.
Already.
"Are these two good-looking Mongol men like you?"
"No! There are just a few who are like us. Most of them are shorter, but they are also very strong."
Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "How are the sales going?"
Yinbalu shook his head, "The price is not good. A piece of skin can only be sold for 700 yuan at most. Datong Mansion can still sell it for a regular price!"
"Let me see how your goods look like?"
Brother Yin Erhan quickly presented the two sheepskins to Chen Qing. Chen Qing touched them and said with a smile: "The quality is good! They are all old sheepskins that are more than five years old. How can they not be sold at a high price?"
Yinbalu sighed and said: "But the shopkeeper in the shop is only willing to offer a price of 800 cents per ticket at most, and only 500 cents at the lowest. We really can't accept this price."
Chen Qing knew that the market price of this kind of sheepskin was between 200 and 500 yuan, but if the shop wanted to make money, it would definitely charge a low price. When this kind of high-quality sheepskin arrived in Lin'an, each piece would cost five yuan.
.
"How many pieces of leather do you bring?"
"Ten thousand!"
"Are the quality the same as this one?"
"They're all the same, they're all five-year-old sheepskin!"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "Let's do this! How about I let the military buy it and pay for each sheepskin?"
The price is the same as that in Datong Prefecture, but now that we are back in Datong Prefecture, the weather is not so cold, so the price will drop, and it will only be 700 to 800 yuan at most.
Yinbalu could only nod his head and agreed, "Okay! It's just money, but I want silver, two thousand taels of silver, is that okay?"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "What do you need money for? Don't you buy some silk, tea and other goods to go back to?"
Yinbalu sighed and said: "To be honest with you, Your Highness, we need silver to pay for the goods to Black Khan. We bought a large number of weapons from Black Khan last year."
Chen Qing's expression suddenly changed, "Are you a military businessman?"