The scorching sun is high, and the wind and sand are howling on the Mongolian steppes.
Huo Bai led a huge caravan to Helin, the largest city in Khalkha Mongolia.
Thousands of camel carts are walking in the desert, forming an endless queue.
Behind the camel cart were more than a thousand sheep, and the caravan crew took good care of these sheep.
The caravan stopped from time to time to feed the sheep water and fodder.
Surrounding the caravan were guards wearing cotton clothes and straw hats. They held rifles in their hands and looked around cautiously.
These escorts with sinister faces blocked the eyes of all coveting caravans.
The guard leader Li Shi took out the water bag and took a small sip.
In the Mongolian desert, silver coins are not as important as water. With this bag of clean water, they can survive.
The caravan has hundreds of vehicles, specifically transporting water and food.
Li Shi murmured to himself: "Have Mr. Huo been kicked in the head by a donkey? How can he sell sheep from the mainland to the Mongolian grassland?
This is not about selling coal from Shenmu, Shaanxi, to Datong, Shanxi. No normal person would do this.
Manager Huo is using the prince’s money as money, isn’t he trying to run away?”
Li Shi recalled Huo Bai's operations along the way. He was arranged by the princess to monitor Huo Bai and others and protect the palace's assets.
The more he thought about it, the more wrong he became, so he walked to Huo Bai.
He asked in confusion: "Manager Huo, we carry so many live sheep, which slows down the team's walking speed.
What does Mr. Huo think? I can't understand. How can he sell sheep to the Mongolian grasslands?
There are many sheep there but they cannot be sold at a high price. Their white sheep cannot be sold at a high price. How can our black-headed sheep be sold at a high price?
I also saw many businessmen going west.
They transported a large amount of materials to Xi'an by railway and took the ancient Silk Road from Yumen Pass.
They headed to Yarkand, a large city at the western end of Turpan Province.
Many people sell some old flintlocks to Kazakh and other tribes so that they can cope with the Russian attack.
There were also some merchants who organized armed caravans in the city, relying on the power of the Royal Army to quell the Eastern Chagatai Mongolia and Erut Mongolia, and prepared to open up the overland Silk Road.
As long as they could sell their goods to the Ottoman Turkish Empire, they could earn countless silver coins.
Why did we choose to take the road in the north? The roads here are difficult and Khalkha Mongolia is not very wealthy."
Li Shi's words also represent the thoughts of many people in the caravan.
Along the ancient Silk Road, you can travel by train for more than half of the way.
When heading to Khalkha Mongolia, we can only walk on two legs and are dragged down by a large number of sheep.
Huo Bai looked at Li Shi. He was a fellow villager of Cao Guogong Li Dazhuang. In addition to protecting the caravan, he also prevented him from running away with money.
He knew why Li Shi was so entangled. He didn't understand the value of these black-headed sheep at all.
Along the way, they kept encountering merchants from Monan Mongolia.
These merchants, carrying large quantities of woolen textiles and other goods, were preparing to go west to do business with the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
The movements of these businessmen also caused Li Shi and others to have doubts.
Any businessman can learn about the huge profits brought by maritime trade and foreign business from newspapers.
Now the merchants of Dahua have broadened their horizons, and they already know that to the west of the two northwest provinces is the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
As long as they can open up the Silk Road and do business with a huge empire, they will make profits dozens or hundreds of times.
As many domestic newspapers interviewed the British mission, these British people became more open-minded and revealed a lot of information about other places.
Unlike the Spaniards before them, who were secretive about everything they asked about, especially the news about the Ottoman Empire, the English were not shy about it.
With a large number of media reports, children who have just entered primary school now all know that there is a huge empire in the west of China, the Ottoman Turkish Empire established by descendants of Turks.
Huo Bai was sitting in the carriage. He was a little bored on the road. When Li Shi asked the questions in his heart, he simply explained:
"Li Shi, these black-headed sheep are not as simple as you think. When you get to Helin City, you will know the value of these sheep.
My choice is simple, we want to sell a large amount of goods in a short period of time.
Earn enough silver coins for the prince to found the country.
The Ottoman Turkish Empire was too far away.
As we headed towards the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the road was also blocked by various tribes.
Even if we can get through these tribes, we will definitely pass this year if we rush back from the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
The prince has no time to wait for us. He cannot compete with ordinary merchants for this most profitable trade route.
There are nearby Mongolian tribes, Chahar tribe, Eastern Chagatai Mongolian tribes, and Erut Mongolian tribes.
They all experienced brutal wars, and tribal wealth was greatly consumed by the war.
Only the Khalkha Mongols chose to surrender voluntarily, and the core wealth of the tribe was not lost.
The leaders of the Khalkha Mongolian tribe went to the capital to proclaim His Majesty the Khan of Heaven. They saw the prosperity of the hinterland.
There is no need to publicize the goods in our hands, as long as they are brought to Helin City, they will bring us huge wealth."
After Li Shi heard this, he scratched his hair. He didn't know how to do business at all, so he didn't understand it clearly.
He only knew that Manager Huo should make a lot of money by taking them to Khalkha Mongolia.
The caravan traveled through the desert, with a guide guiding them, so they did not lose their way.
The caravan marched through the desert day by day until the camels stopped and happily gnawed on the green grass on the ground.
Huo Bai looked at the vast green grass in front of him and murmured softly: "The grass is blown by the wind and you can only see the cattle and sheep."
In the desert, only small-scale nomadic tribes survive near oases.
Only in the prairie can large-scale tribes survive and trade with them can be carried out.
After the caravan was repaired, Huo Bai continued to take the caravan to Helin City.
The grassland scenes he saw along the way were completely different from what he imagined.
Huo Bai saw a large number of yurts surrounding a small town on the grassland for survival.
These people on the grasslands, like ordinary people in the mainland, also work in the factories in the town.
He also saw many herdsmen migrating with their flocks.
The only people migrating were the herders, their sheep, and a few sheepdogs.
Rather than in his impression, nomadic tribesmen, whole families, old and young, migrate together.
He left the town with his caravan and was overtaken by migrating herdsmen.
The herdsman used his stumbling Chinese to propose a trade with their caravan.
Huo Bai wanted to know something about the situation in Khalkha Mongolia before entering Helin City.
He arranged for several trucks loaded with ordinary commodities to stop and do business with these migrating herdsmen.
The herdsmen bought some iron pots, spices and medicinal materials, and they offered to pay in furs.
Huo Bai asked about the price of the furs in their hands and readily agreed to the deal.
He talked with these herdsmen and learned some about the conditions of the grasslands.
The tribes moved according to the seasons. They would live nearby in spring and summer, driving their flocks to browse different pastures.
Each tribe has been allocated its own pasture, and they will raise an appropriate number of cattle and sheep based on the amount of pasture.
When the pastures here are eaten out in autumn, the tribes will move to other pastures belonging to them.
In each pasture, the grass on the pasture grows differently depending on the season, and their tribes will migrate according to the state of the pasture.
But some tribal members working in the military camps, as well as the old and weak in the tribe, will not move with them.
The area near the garrison camp is relatively safe and will not be attacked by horse bandits.
The work provided by the Tuntian Army here allows you to get a fixed amount of silver coins every month, which is more profitable than herding.
Huo Bai came into contact with these herdsmen, and only then did he understand the imperial grassland policy that he had glanced at in the newspaper.
These nomadic tribes on the grassland have become semi-nomadic tribes due to the influence of the policies promulgated by the imperial court.
The grassland of each tribe is limited, and the strength of this tribe is also limited. It is difficult to form a large tribe that unifies the grassland.
Huo Bai led the caravan along the way, and he saw the changes in the grassland.
They traded with tribes in the grassland from time to time, and the smoothness of the transactions allowed Huo Bai to understand that there was nothing wrong with the goods they carried.
Huo Bai and his party finally arrived at their destination, Helin City.
Thousands of camel carts and a huge caravan walked outside Helin City.
This directly alarmed the large tribes around Helin City and the military yamen in the city.
Guo Dalei, the general of the field army, personally led the troops out of the city.
Guo Dalei learned about the situation of this caravan.
He said with a smile: "On behalf of the Tuntian Army, I welcome you businessmen.
We are in short supply of everything here, and all the supplies you bring can find good sales."
After Guo Dalei was polite, he ordered: "Your caravan is too huge, and He Lin Cheng can't even fit in it.
You go to the Tuntian Army Camp, which is the safest place and can be used as a temporary shopping mall for you."
Huo Bai thanked Guo Dalei, the general of the garrison army. He knew that King Cao was behind him, so he was given special treatment by the garrison army.
He arranged for the caravan to be stationed at the garrison camp.
Huo Bai walked into Helin City with his confidants.
This big city in the grassland gave him a very familiar feeling.
Except for the different costumes of the people in the city, there is not much difference between this place and the inland counties.
There are patrols here to maintain traffic order.
Huo Bai also came to the Yamen where the merchants least wanted to see.
He took the relevant information and approached the tax bureau.
They did business with the Mongolian tribes along the way. Most of the time they were bartering without supervision from the tax bureau, so they did not need to pay taxes.
They were doing business in Helin City, and the transaction scale could easily reach tens of thousands of taels of silver coins. There was no way they could avoid the tax bureau's gaze.
Even if Huo Bai belongs to King Cao, he cannot be exempted from tax.
You can only come to the tax bureau, submit the information of the trading company, and be prepared to pay taxes.
Huo Bai came out of the tax bureau, found a local newspaper, and advertised the caravan in the newspaper.
This time he chose to come to the grassland for trade. In addition to a large number of commodities that the grassland tribes needed, they also had a trump card in their hands.
In order to obtain news from the Dahua court as soon as possible, the leaders of the various tribes in Helin City have developed the habit of reading newspapers.
Even if they are illiterate, they will invite literate scholars to read newspapers to them.
Tushet Khan looked at the newspaper in his hand and saw the advertisement placed by the Newcomer Chamber of Commerce in the newspaper.
The news that a large chamber of commerce came to Helin City with huge supplies has been known to all tribes for a long time.
The goods they brought were too much for one or two tribes to eat.
Tushet Khan left all this material exchange to his subordinates.
When he saw the content of the advertisement, he immediately put on his coat and walked out of the room quickly.
They didn't care about other things. The Chamber of Commerce advertised in newspapers and they brought more than a thousand long-haired sheep.
The Tushete tribe must not let go of these breeding sheep.
The main income of the Tushete tribe now comes from cattle and wool.
Mutton is worthless on the grassland, and live sheep cannot be sold at a high price.
The price of live sheep in the mainland is very high, but if the sheep are slaughtered on the grassland and transported to the mainland, they will already smell and rot.
They transport live sheep to the mainland, and the cost of fodder is affordable.
However, the weight of the sheep's fat loss along the way, as well as the diseases suffered by the sheep during the long journey, made the cost of transporting live sheep unbearable.
Only tribes closer to the mainland can make money by transporting live sheep.
Cattle are completely different. Sheep are for slaughtering and eating meat, but cattle are for plowing land.
Even if the cattle shipped to the mainland are fattened, their prices will not be affected.
Nowadays, after thousands of years of selection, the sheep of the Mongolian tribes all choose sheep that grow fat quickly and have delicious meat. No one cares about the length of the wool or the amount of wool produced.
Who would have thought that the price of a sheep's wool in a year can reach one-tenth of that of this sheep.
If wool production increases, the benefits will be unimaginable.
Not only Tushet Khan, but also the Mongolian tribal leaders who saw the news rushed to the garrison camp.
Huo Bai looked at the endless stream of Mongolian tribal leaders and smiled.
They purchase common commodities such as ironware, medicinal materials, and spices, and the caravan manager is responsible for this.
These items are large in quantity and can be worth several times more when transported to the grasslands, but they are not the most valuable commodities.
Huo Bai looked at the Great Khans of the various tribes of the Khalkha Mongolia who were surrounding them. The tribal leaders with the title of Great Khan were all large tribes with rich heritage.
Tushet Khan asked anxiously: "Manager Huo, can we take a look at the long-haired sheep?"
Huo Bai immediately ordered his assistant to bring over the long-haired sheep.
This is a black-headed sheep successfully bred by the Academy of Sciences from long-haired sheep from Liaodong, Chahar and other places after years of breeding.
King Cao used his connections to obtain more than a thousand breeding sheep.
In order to support the cotton textile industry, the imperial court has prepared to spread the black-headed sheep population in the near future, so that King Cao can acquire this batch of breeding sheep.
Tushet Khan looked at the sheep brought by the traders from the chamber of commerce. These sheep looked fatter.
It has a big pure black head, and from the neck down, the body is pure white without a trace of hair.
He touched the black-headed sheep with his hands. The wool of these sheep was extremely long.
He estimated the size of these sheep and knew that they were newly grown sheep and could produce so much wool as adults. This kind of sheep was worth buying.
"Mr. Huo, how much do these breeding sheep cost?"
Huo Bai smiled and said happily: "We don't sell them for retail. One ram and three ewes cost a thousand taels of silver coins in total."
As long as these sheep can be sold, they can earn more than 100,000 taels of silver coins. Together with other goods, they can earn at least 500,000 taels of silver coins from this trip.
Tushet Khan carefully calculated whether these breeding sheep were worth it.
A normal breeding sheep is only worth ten taels of silver coins, which is a hundred times premium.
He finally gritted his teeth and chose to buy several groups of black-headed sheep.
Tushet Khan's actions inspired other great Khans.
The black-headed sheep brought by Huo Bai were quickly snapped up by these large tribes.
He looked at other goods and saw that they were all sold smoothly.
They also purchase specialties from Mongolian tribes, the prices are slightly higher than local prices, and the purchase process goes smoothly.
A clerk walked up to Huo Bai and whispered in his ear: "Manager Huo, the army in the field needs to buy a large amount of arsenic."
When Huo Bai heard the news, he almost screamed in surprise.