Nampo is located at the estuary of the Daedong River. It is the largest port in Xijing, the northern boundary of Korea, and an important commercial town in the northern boundary of Korea.
The Koryo imperial court originally set up a Shipping Department here to imitate the Song Dynasty and levy customs duties. However, after the pirates were rampant a few years ago, domestic dignitaries added fuel to the fire - now the Koryo merchants are trading with Song maritime merchants, who still pays the tariffs?
As a result, the Nanpu Shipping Department was in name only and became a place for businessmen to rest and gather.
Pu Weixian was a subordinate official of Nanpu City Shipping Department - the Koryo Kingdom learned from the Song Dynasty before, and subordinate officials also had low positions. Subordinate officials in other places also had gray income and a lot of money. Nanpu City Shipping Department was not good, Gou The officials in charge of official business have already gone to work in a temple somewhere in Pyongyang City, Xijing. The mice here are richer than Pu Weixian.
Today Pu Wei is busy in and out.
They brought a pile of firewood and lit a fire to drive away the cold air in the room. About ten people sat in the warm room, drinking the soup cooked by Pu Weixian and eating the noodles he made. , feeling comfortable all over, and then chatting comfortably.
"Ambassador Park," a businessman named Wang Jia joked.
There were only two or three subordinates and a dozen Kuding housekeepers left in the entire Nanpu City Shipping Department. Pu Weixian was the oldest and their leader, so he was nicknamed Ambassador Park by the businessmen who were familiar with him.
"The pancakes you make are so delicious, you are so good at your craftsmanship!" Wang Jia said with a smile.
"It made several bosses laugh." Pu Weixian said with a shy face and flatteringly.
There is no other way, it is important to eat, take good care of these merchants, and reward them with a few coins, which is enough to feed the family of the people left behind by the Shibo Division for several days.
"I mainly use refined flour brought by my bosses from the Song Dynasty. This flour is ground so finely that it is very strong when making bread."
Another businessman named Li Yi said: "It must be the batch of Qingzhou flour that Jin Laoliu sold back last time. I heard that it was the best wheat seed cultivated by the Zhongyuan Agricultural Science Institute of the Song Dynasty. It was carefully screened and milled with water. It's finely ground, and it's really good. Whether it's made into strips or cakes, it's delicious. But it's expensive, and only the officials in the second shift can afford it."
"What Li Dongjia said is right. It was the batch of Qingzhou flour shipped by Jin Dongjia last time. It was called Taishan. Half a pack was left after selling it. Seeing how pitiful we were, he rewarded it. We were reluctant to eat it. We all He is a despicable person. He can only fill his stomach with coarse grains, but he dares to eat such fine grains. If he eats them in his mouth and stomach, that would be a bad thing."
"Haha, that's what Ambassador Park said. He kept this flour for us to eat, probably because he wanted to get more reward money." A businessman said with a smile.
"I have made you laugh. You are all generous people. These days, I rely entirely on your rewards. Otherwise, our whole family would have starved to death long ago."
Pu Bixian sighed and said: "In the past few years, the north has used troops, requisitioned grain, and recruited men. Nine out of ten houses have been empty. The river is three hundred miles to the left and right. If some rice grains can be scraped out of the rice vat, they are from a wealthy family." I heard that the government issued a decree yesterday that starting from next month, in the northern boundary, Xihai Road and Jiaozhou Road, anyone over twelve years old and under sixty years old will be considered a strong man."
The businessmen were silent.
They travel all over the country, so of course they know the situation in these places. But what can they say? They can't say anything, and they don't dare to say anything.
"I heard that there was a great victory in the northern border. With this power, maybe the Song Dynasty is willing to negotiate peace with us. It would be better if we don't go to war. We can cultivate our health and rest for a few years, and the people's livelihood and livelihood can be restored."
"Do you believe this?" Li Yi said disdainfully.
"I heard that the king's decree has been spread everywhere, and that's what it says."
"The people below were covered up, and the people above deceived the king. The top and bottom deceived the king together. They wiped out 40,000 enemies. Do you believe it? Don't say goodbye to the martial arts class. I sent them food. They were nothing more than the best young men from the martial arts classes from all over the country.
. Let me tell you, eight out of ten in the martial arts class are imposters."
"Really or not?"
"It's completely true. The imperial court organized a martial arts class, not to get promoted to an official position, but to fight to the death with the fierce Jurchens. Who among the right-wing students is willing to go? They have to spend money to hire local desperadoes, and even go to jail to buy murderers and criminals.
, pretending to be others and joining the class. They are somewhat brave but extremely vicious. They can only fight with the wind, but once they encounter someone more ferocious and tyrannical than them, they will be defeated like a mountain."
"It's not like we don't know what kind of results we achieved in the past two years. Tens of thousands of people were chased and beaten by hundreds of Jurchens. Now they are suddenly brave. Do you believe it?"
Most of the businessmen present shook their heads.
They are all people who have traveled far and wide. They have seen a lot and know what is true and what is false.
"Looking at it this way, the war has to continue. When will this end?" a businessman sighed.
"Yes, people's livelihood everywhere is in decline now, no one can afford to buy things, and business is getting harder and harder to do."
"Yes, I heard that there were mobs in Gyeongsang-do, Jeolla-do and Yangguang-do, breaking up manors and looting warehouses. The entire family of a wealthy family was either killed or fled. It was miserable."
"We are all forced to do nothing. We are about to starve to death, and there is nothing we can do. Our life is getting more and more difficult."
Pu Bixian served everyone hot soup and said with a smile, "Are you guys joking, are you having a hard time? Then we are not allowed to dig in the salt water pits?"
Wang Jia took a sip of the soup and let out a long sigh of relief. The white water vapor was sprayed out like a column of smoke.
"You don't know that in our country, everything is in the hands of the royal family and two groups of officials. Who among you here has not been working hard for a certain high-ranking official? When making money, there is still a smile on the top, and some leftovers are rewarded.
It’s getting harder and harder to make money now, so my face looks ugly. Shouting and yelling are normal things.”
Wang Jia held the chipped ceramic bowl and stared blankly at the fire, with endless sadness in his eyes.
"I have an old brother with whom we have been doing business for twenty years. Business has been difficult in the past two years. There are fewer and fewer things that can be sold to people in the Song Dynasty. If you can't exchange for money, you can't buy things back if you can't exchange for money. Just
He could snatch the food that would keep people alive and exchange it for them. He was temporarily soft-hearted and delayed several transactions."
"Alas - he saved others, who will save his family? The official was angry, and no matter how much money my old brother made for him, he beat him to death with a whip and sold the whole family into slavery...
.”
There was silence in the room. The fire was still burning brightly, and the burning wood made a slight crackling sound, like the sound of a whip in the distance.
A businessman said quietly.
"I really want to move to the Song Dynasty. Merchants and craftsmen are no longer regarded as humble jobs there. Merchants and factory owners who operate legally and pay sufficient taxes will be reported to the local government and asked to be granted the official position of the third councilor of the prefecture and county.
Although it is only a false position, the prefectures and counties hold two advisory board meetings every year, and you can attend and speak as non-voting delegates. The prefects, magistrates, and county guards will all attend and listen to their opinions with an open mind. This status and treatment are different."
"Merchant and factory owners who have made great achievements will also be awarded the official title of Tongyilang and join the Tongyiyuan of Zhongshu Province. In the past few years, the Song Dynasty has awarded more than a dozen big merchants and factory owners with honorary titles, which is enough to honor their ancestors and make them rich and noble for a lifetime.
.”
"I heard that there are many giant businessmen in Goryeo who have quietly transferred their business records to Dongxing, Dengzhou and Shanghai in the Song Dynasty." A businessman broke the news.
"That was really foresight. I really regret it. Why didn't I pay attention and do it earlier... It's fine now. My family is being held hostage by the officials..."
While they were chatting away, a treasurer Ding, who was patrolling outside, ran in.
"The ship is coming, the ship is coming!"
"The merchant ships from the Song Dynasty are here." The merchants were not surprised. Wang Jia counted his fingers and said, "It is mid-September, winter has begun, and the wind is blowing from the northwest. It must be a ship from Liaodong or Dongxing City."
Another businessman said with a smile: "The ships of the Song Dynasty are very powerful. They can use horizontal sails, longitudinal sails, square sails and triangular sails. As long as there is wind, no matter which direction the wind is, they can borrow wind. Maybe it is Haizhou.
Or the ship from Shanghai!"
"You just like to argue. How about we make a bet to find out where the ship is. Everyone, do you want to place a bet?"
"Bet, of course!" The businessmen also became interested.
Pu Bixian was smart and found a piece of official paper from somewhere. He turned it over and drew several grids on the blank space on the back, filling in the ports of Liaodong, Dongxing, Dengzhou, Mizhou, Haizhou, Shanghai and so on.
"Let's talk about the bet..."
At this time, another Kudin rushed in, gasping and saying intermittently: "There are so many boats, boats, so big boats!" This chapter has been completed!