The weather was sunny today, and more than a dozen people gathered at the stone roller at the south end of Anzhuang Fort. Han Niuer sat on the stone roller with his arms hanging, and kept talking about the story of that night.
"Niu'er, what did you think at first? You stayed after Gu Tou asked you to stay?"
"Bah, Gutou? The Tatar hasn't seen his face yet. He gave up first. He was the one who ordered the withdrawal. Brother Tie insisted on keeping him. At that time, we almost didn't fight because of this!"
"Ah? Silly blind man? How did I hear that Gu Tou asked you to stay?"
"It must be that idiot Yang Dazui who said it, right? I was busy retreating before, but now I see the Tatars have fallen, and I want to share the credit. What the hell?"
"Huh, if you dare to stay and fight the Tatars, you are the fool Tie Mo!"
"What are you talking about? Brother Tie is not stupid at all!"
"He's not stupid, how could he be so bold?"
"he....."
Li Jiasheng leaned against an old tree and listened for a while, with a meaningful smile on his lips.
While he was listening with great interest, Gu Chengliang came over with Yang Dayong. Gu Chengliang was still a little nervous about Li Jiasheng's arrival, because he had never dealt with Li Jiasheng.
"Mr. Li Qian, wine and food have been prepared at home. Let's go home and eat and chat!"
Li Jiasheng smiled and cupped his hands, "Excuse me, Mr. Gu... No, I should call you Gu Baihu soon... Haha, I heard that we got a lot of Mongolian war horses this time.
This general is very itchy and has to go to Tie Hanxiong to ask about the war horse, so I won’t disturb my brother for the time being!"
"this......"
Gu Chengliang felt mixed emotions in his heart. He could still hear the sarcasm in Li Jiasheng's words. But in fact, it was not his fault for the sarcasm. Gu Chengliang himself felt a little guilty because of Tuo Lingpo's military exploits.
However, now that he is looking after someone, he is still the talker in Anzhuangbao. When Li Jiasheng has something to do, he doesn't go to him to talk to someone, but instead goes to Tie Mo to discuss it. It's really shocking.
I was so angry that I didn't dare to talk to Li Jiasheng.
After Li Jiasheng left, Gu Chengliang stared at his back and spat fiercely, "Mother, you are going too far!"
Yang Dayong felt very uncomfortable. He had a feeling that Tie Hanxiong seemed to be getting rich. He had always been at odds with Tie Hanxiong. If that stupid guy got rich, would he, Yang, have a good life?
"Gu Tou, what should we do now? Do we want to find Wei Baihu?"
"What's the use of looking for him? Wei Xiang can't even get along with anyone named Li who is directly under the command department!"
Gu Chengliang stared angrily, and when he heard the conversation between Han Niuer and others in the distance, he felt even more furious.
...
In the dilapidated yard, Tie Mo sat on the wall, looking at the rows of adobe houses, thinking about this very important matter.
There are more than 400 households in Anzhuangbao, that is, more than 300 military households with combat power. As long as these military households are gathered together, they will become a considerable force. Relying on this strength, you can slowly expand your power.
.
However, it is not that easy to turn a team of more than 300 people into elite soldiers.
Firearms, swords and guns, armor and clothing, food and grass, and training are all indispensable!
Except for training, everything else costs money!
It’s not that I don’t know, it’s just that I feel annoyed!
The windfall collected from the Tatars was not enough. To raise an elite army of 300 people, at least tens of thousands of taels of silver a year, the money on hand would be a drop in the bucket.
After all the calculations, we are still short of money!
"Hey, brother Tie, why do you like to sit on the wall and watch the scenery?"
A bold voice sounded, Tie Mo turned his head and glanced, quickly jumped down from the wall, raised his hand and gave a salute.
"Mr. Li Qian, why are you here?"
"Why don't you come? Brother, you have made a great contribution this time. If nothing else, those war horses and camels alone are a huge fortune!"
Li Jiasheng asked for help. He hugged Tie Mo's shoulders affectionately and said as he walked, "Brother, I am a straight-tempered person and don't know how to turn. Brother, you got more than 20 war horses this time. You have so many war horses in your hands."
It’s not of much use. It just so happens that General Hou asked me to hire a cavalry team, but I don’t have good horses. Do you think you can share some with me?”
"President Li Qian wants to share some war horses? It's easy to talk about this matter. Ten horses will be left here at Anzhuang Castle, and the rest can be taken away by President Qian. But you have to keep those camels!"
Li Jiasheng's face was dazed, and his eyes almost fell to the ground. He had prepared a lot of rhetoric, but when he came to find out, he had already prepared it in vain. Tie Mo agreed so readily that it was unbelievable.
"Brother Tie, are you agreeing now? To be honest, brother, I don't have much money to give you!"
"No money, Mr. Li Qian can just take it away!" Tie Mo patted his chest boldly, his expression extremely serious.
Li Jiasheng let go of Tie Mo's shoulders and looked at him seriously, "Brother, this is no joke. Why did you do this? Aren't you at a disadvantage?"
"Don't suffer any loss." Tie Mo scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders honestly, "Mr. Qian doesn't know something. These big horses are so edible, and they have to eat good forage and beans. They are better than what I eat. How can I?"
I can afford it, but I’m just worried that I don’t know what to do with it.”
"Ahem..."
Li Jiasheng twitched irregularly. He looked carefully and found that Tie Mo was serious.
Is this iron brother stupid or genuine?
He must be too down-to-earth, but the more he is like this, the more embarrassed Li Jiasheng feels. Although Li Jiasheng is not an upright and upright man, he is also a sentimental and righteous man.
He really can't do anything to deceive an honest person. That's all, I just took these war horses away, and I will find a way to help Brother Tie more in other places in the future.
"Okay, I, Lao Li, recognize your brother. If you want to recognize me, then don't talk about it like a thousand bosses, and just listen to me!"
"Haha...Brother Li..."
"That's right." Li Jiasheng laughed loudly, patted Tie Mo on the shoulder, and walked into the house.
The furnishings in the house are very simple, with a broken table and chairs, and a broken bed in the back room. In short, one thing stands out.
"Brother, why do you keep those camels? Farming and pulling carts are not as good as oxen, horses and mules. My brother has some connections. I promise to exchange those dozen camels for more than 20 cows. You will definitely not lose money!"
Li Jiasheng was so kind-hearted that Tie Mo frowned and waved his hand hurriedly.
"No, no, we have to keep these camels!"
"Why? Just because camels are easy to feed? But brother, the key is that these camels are useless to you!"
Tie Mo said anxiously: "It's useful, I want to use these camels to haul goods!"
"Purchase goods?"
"Yes, if I want to do business, these camels are the best livestock. I have heard that border trade in the North can be done without horses, but without camels, you will definitely not be able to survive."
"Pfft" Li Jiasheng just took a drink of water and sprayed it all on the ground. He plucked his ears in disbelief and saw an extremely sincere face.
"You want to do business? This... brother, just pretend you don't know about this. Don't tell others about it in the future. It's okay to do business, just come secretly!"
Li Jiasheng felt a little headache, maybe his previous judgment was a bit wrong. This brother Tie is not only honest, but also a bit stupid. Can he talk openly about doing business?
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu has formulated a strict household registration system. Salt households make salt, military households farm and fight, and craftsmen households do work. Each is responsible for his own affairs and cannot do other work.
Emperor Taizu's original intention at that time was good, to make the division of labor clear and everyone to perform their duties. But as time went by, this household registration system ran into big problems.
Life is hard, and coupled with the restrictions of the household registration system, life will only get harder and harder.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, especially at the northern border, many military households had secretly moved goods, and some even escorted goods for wealthy merchants.
Military households are also forced to do business by life, but they are often very low-key when doing such things. Even if someone asks, no one will admit it. The higher-ups also know about this kind of thing, but they all turn a blind eye.
.
If military households can find ways to make some money and have food and drink, they won't have to worry about pay, and the capital will also have peace of mind.
It was the first time for someone like Tie Mo to proactively admit that he wanted to do business.
After thinking about it, Li Jiasheng felt that it was necessary to give this little brother a few words. After closing the door, he said seriously: "Brother, if you want to do business, I won't object to you. But you have to know that this road is not good.
Let's go north from Zhangjiakou, and half of the ten will lose everything."
"Yeah, but I still want to try it!"
Tie Mo nodded, but did not change his original intention!
Li Jiasheng couldn't help but grin. He realized that no matter how much he talked, he was just playing the piano to others.
"Come on, you are a bastard who is determined to eat the weight!"
At noon, Li Jiasheng stayed at Tie Mo's house and drank some wine. Because he was in a hurry to go back, before six o'clock, he left Anzhuang Fort with his men and horses.
After seeing Li Jiasheng off, Tie Mo touched his chin and murmured to himself.
"Brother Li is a real person and worth getting to know!"
At this time, Li Jiasheng looked at the dozen or so fine Mongolian war horses in front of him and felt a sense of emotion in his heart.
"Hey, Brother Tie is a rare and down-to-earth person. Since he wants to sell goods, please help him as much as you can in the future!"
The cold wind blew through the treetops, and a crow landed on the branch, showing a dazed expression.