After entering the twelfth lunar month, the festive atmosphere becomes stronger day by day.
On the banks of the Zuli River, a large convoy of carriages and horses came, with about twenty carriages and more than a hundred mules and horses, loaded with all kinds of goods. As soon as they entered the territory of Huizhou, they caused a sensation.
The last time a caravan of this size entered the country was probably when Shang Yanxin was still alive.
From then on, the Tubo tribes had no restraint and discipline, and every household became a local overlord one after another. Not only did they attack each other internally, but they also sometimes sent loose cavalry into the Tang territory to plunder the people.
Even after Huang Chao entered Chang'an, they colluded with each other and organized a large army to capture the Yuan, Wu, and Wei states. At that time, the borders of the Qin and Cheng states were not peaceful, and there were frequent raids by horsemen entering the country - it must be said that,
Their sources of information are indeed powerful. Not long after Huang Chao entered Chang'an, he immediately took action, which shows that he still cares about Dongfang.
In such a situation, how can we do business in the border areas? Are we risking our lives? No matter how good the Tibetan cattle and sheep skins are, they dare not buy them. What's more, the Dingnan Army also has cattle and sheep in huge quantities and at very low prices.
It's not expensive either, so you might as well go to Suizhou or Xiazhou to buy it. Unfortunately, there are also Tubo tribes in Fengxiang Town, so I bought it from them, although the quantity is a bit insufficient.
In the second year of Guangqi's reign, the king of Lingwu County returned to Lingzhou from Chang'an. When he returned to the army, he united with Binning Town and Jingyuan Town to destroy the Tibetans who were causing rebellion in Yuanzhou and other places. Later, he recovered two counties in Huizhou, established officials and sent troops
, immigration has been officially controlled. This is nothing less than great news for the businessmen of Qinzhou.
Therefore, after several months of tentative observation and finding that the local situation in Huizhou had indeed stabilized, the first caravan from Qinzhou came over.
Businessmen are also working very hard to do business in the new year!
There are many attached tribes in Huizhou. Whether they are Tubo-ized Dangxiang people, Han people or others, strictly speaking, their habits are not very good, and they may rob you all. But this merchant group
The team is so powerful, and its banner is the Tianshui Zhao family, the handsome wife clan. This has frightened many people who want to take risks - even if someone wants to be a fool, others will hold him back, so don't do any harm to me.
Damn it all, Prince Lingwu will not carefully identify who robbed, he will only punish them together.
Of course, the banner is the Tianshui Zhao family, but the source of the merchants is actually quite complicated. They are mainly merchants from Qinzhou, but also from Cheng and Longzhou. They are attached to the Zhao family, so they naturally benefit from the Zhao family. And the Zhao family also
We can't use the reputation of Prince Lingwu to do business in vain. The Zhao family has already discussed internally to give shares to Yuniang, the concubine of Prince Lingwu, and share the profits.
The caravan had dozens of guards, strong bows, powerful crossbows, long spears and broadswords, and it looked very reliable. As people described it at the time, "Those who accept knights lightly, those who slay dragons and stab dragons, those who make fun of Poyang's guests, Fuping's
"A strong man" will certainly not be able to deal with the regular army, but it will not be a big problem to deal with mountain bandits, river thieves, rogue soldiers and bandits.
"Let's all rest for a while." Zhao Cheng came back from the front on horseback and greeted.
It's not that people need to rest, it's mainly draft animals that the mules and horses can't bear. It's still some distance away from Huizhou City. If the livestock is exhausted, they have to buy it from the grassland tribes. They raise the price on the ground. Is it a loss?
After the caravan stopped, some tribes naturally came over to buy goods.
They automatically filtered out high-value goods such as mirrors, jewelry, brocade, etc., mainly looking at small items such as tea leaves, pottery pots, ironware, needles, threads, etc. The people in the caravan did not find it troublesome, and some businessmen with small capital were even more energetic.
, wagging their lips and talking sweet words, trying their best to promote their products.
The herdsmen knew very little Mandarin and had no cash, so they could only trade livestock, skins, sinews, horns and the like. But how could they outwit these crafty businessmen? The cattle and sheep they brought were considered too thin.
The leather was considered to be of poor quality, and the price was kept high and low, almost to the point of becoming angry.
Zhao Cheng looked on with a smile and did not participate. He was engaged in large-scale business and looked down on the petty profits of these retail businesses. There were many of their products on those cars, such as mirrors.
How can grassland herders afford this thing?
However, something unexpected happened...
"Is there a bronze mirror?" A man dressed as Han Chinese squeezed over and asked after much hesitation.
Zhao Cheng was shocked and asked: "Do you really want to buy glasses?"
Wang Quan opened his mouth, stamped his feet one last time, and said, "Of course I want to buy it!"
"Bright mirrors are very expensive, why don't I give you some dimming mirrors to take a look at?" Zhao Cheng asked tentatively.
"What do you mean by a bright mirror? What about a dim mirror?" Wang Quan asked.
"The bright mirror is clear and cannot hide the light for a second. It is not suitable for beauty." Zhao Cheng replied.
The meaning is very clear. The bright mirror is a high-end product. It can illuminate relatively clearly and cannot hide the blemishes or physical defects on the face. If an ugly person uses it, isn't it asking for trouble?
"The reflection in a dusk mirror is like fog, and the flaws are not visible. The beauty is born by itself. If you take several photos in a day, you will say that you are beautiful. Generally, ten mirrors are cast, one of them is as bright as bright, and nine of them are as foggy. Do you want to buy a bright mirror or a dusk mirror?"
Several people behind the king burst into laughter.
The merchants are really interesting and smart.
Among the women in the world, there are only eleven beauties, so this bright mirror is sold to beauties. The remaining nine people bought dusk mirrors and went home. They were very happy when they looked at them and felt that they were beautiful. This business was indeed done.
sharp.
"I'm going to buy a bright mirror." Wang Quan waved his hand and said with great momentum.
"Seriously? This thing is very expensive."
"You, a businessman, look down on the farmer?" Wang Quan became angry and shouted: "Dalang, bring me a piece of silk."
When Wang Jiao heard that he was buying a mirror for his mother, he immediately responded, picked up a piece of silk, and handed it over.
Zhao Cheng took a rough look, shook his head and said: "This is the Hengzhou peacock, but I can't buy a bright mirror."
Wang Quan was stunned. He didn't expect the mirror to be so expensive, and he hesitated.
"If you add the Xuanzhou red thread blanket in the little man's bag, it will be almost the same." Zhao Cheng was also sharp-eyed and actually saw only a corner of the famous brocade exposed in Wang Jiao's bag.
"Are you, a dealer, trying to deceive me?" Wang Quan asked. But his tone was obviously hesitant, because he didn't know how much a bright mirror should cost. In other words, the price of the same mirror in different places varies greatly.
Don't know what price Huizhou should sell for.
While he was still hesitating, Wang Jiao over there had already handed over the piece of silk.
Wang Quan was speechless. This cheap son actually stood up to his mother.
Zhao Cheng carefully took the red thread carpet, looked at it carefully, and said with a smile: "The colorful silk and velvet are fragrant, the thread is soft and the flowers are insignificant; when the beauty steps out to sing and dance, the stockings and embroidered shoes disappear with each step. It's true.
!I didn’t expect that a poor and remote place like Huizhou would have such a famous treasure. How did you, a common man, get such a good thing?"
Wang Quan was in pain, but someone behind him said: "People in the city only pursue profit, how can they look down on others? Commander Wang went deep into Weizhou several times, killing more than ten Tibetan bandits, and even killed one person from a hundred households. The Tibetan bandits heard about Commander Wang's name
, in panic all day long. The leader of the Luma tribe even offered a reward of a hundred cattle and sheep to buy the king's command. How do you compare? Huizhou is poor, but there are generous and heroic people, who can single-handedly conquer the group.
, kill the general and return, ensuring peace for one side. Don't look down on others, this is a reward from General Yang, the envoy of the Xinquan Army, and only rewards are given to brave men!"
Zhao Cheng was also a little moved when he heard this. Qinzhou had been trapped in Tibet for decades, and everyone knew what kind of life the people had lived. The imperial envoys came several times, and before leaving, everyone only dared to hide behind the door and peek, wishing they could follow him.
Return to the Tang Dynasty.
Zhao Cheng had such an experience when he was young. His old father, with his braided hair in the left fold, cried bitterly after the court envoy left, which left a deep impression on him. Unfortunately, his father died early and did not have time to wait for the imperial court to regain the six kingdoms during the Dazhong period.
It is a pity that there are seven passes in the state.
"He turned out to be a warrior who killed the Tibetan bandits..." Zhao Cheng thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and stuffed the bright mirror into Wang Quan's hand, saying, "If this mirror is melted, it won't make much money, so I will give it to the warrior."
I just want to kill a few more Tibetan bandits in the future and restore the old land."
"How can this happen?" Before Wang Quan could refuse, Wang Jiao had already picked up the mirror.
Wang Quan gave a bitter smile and said: "That's all, I don't want you to give it away. I've given you these two pieces of brocade. If General Yang can reward me once, he can reward me twice. After some time, I will go to Weizhou again.
Capture some Tubo and bring them back alive."
Wang Quan made it easy to capture people alive, but how could Zhao Cheng not know the danger? In the past few decades, the two sides sent each other's rangers to capture lives. Sometimes people would go out to collect firewood in the morning and never come back. When we met in the future,
, maybe twenty years later, but luckily, most of the people who disappeared will never be seen again.
"Commander Wang is truly a heroic man." Zhao Cheng sighed.
There is no one in the Han Dynasty? No. The officers and soldiers cannot fight? No. But the lost ground cannot be recovered! The generals and generals are like flies and dogs, and their corpses are eating nothing. In the end, they are no better than a common man.
Zhu Mei, the commander-in-chief of Fengxiang Festival, built mansions extensively, gathered beauties, and feasted all day long. The three states of Wei, Min, and Dang were right at the door, but he refused to send troops, thinking that the waste was useless. Such behavior will only make the hot-blooded people's teeth cold. The future will come.
If there are changes in the Central Plains, fighting continues in Guanzhong, and Tubo invades again, how can we expect Zhu Mei to maintain peace in Qinzhou? Zhao Cheng dare not think so.
If the general dares to fight, Zhao Cheng has the confidence to carry out business to the Yijun Army and even the Western Regions. What a huge benefit this is? I can’t explain the reason to these warriors!
According to the information I have received, after regaining Huizhou, the King of Lingwu County should still have some ideas and want to capture Lanzhou and other places. If he can really succeed, he will do business there, and even sponsor part of the military supplies.
If I sell the Xuanzhou red thread rug in my hand to Xizhou and then buy local products back to the Central Plains, I can get dozens of times the profit every time.
It's a shame that the general is short-sighted and blind, so he let this profit go to waste. Isn't it ridiculous?
During the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu occupied the Western Regions, and trade routes were cut off. During the Han Dynasty, Tubo occupied the Western Regions, and trade routes were cut off again, forcing Hu merchants to go to the grasslands and even the Bohai Sea to do business.
Silk, paper, tea from the Central Plains, gold and silverware from the Western Regions, crystals, frankincense, velvet rugs, gems, rhinoceros horns, ivory, tortoiseshell, indigo, jewelry and even Hu people's style armor. How much profit do these things have?
After Wang Quan and others left, Zhao Cheng sat blankly for a while. Soon the caravan set off again. Zhao Cheng cheered up and planned to go to Huizhou to have a look. Next, he would go to Lingzhou