After informing Qi Jiguang about the auction method, the meeting between Gao Jingshi and Qi Jiguang came to an end. After hearing the news, Kaiping Zhongtun Guard Commander Xuecheng, who came here, held a banquet for the two of them in the commander's Yamen.
As mentioned above, Kaiping is located at the junction of Luanzhou, Yongping Prefecture, and Fengrun, Shuntian Prefecture, more than 400 miles east of the capital. To the north, it is surrounded by the mountains and ravines of the Yanshan Mountains, to the south, it is bounded by the vast tidal flats of the Bohai Bay, and to the east, it is
Looking at the long and winding Great Wall, overlooking Shun and Yongping plains in the west, it was the barrier for ancient Yan Youzhou to resist the invasion of foreign barbarians. Throughout history, it defended Guzhu, protected Youyan, strangled the Great Wall, and garrisoned Luanzhou. It was a must for military strategists.
The strategic position of the contested land is very important, and the surrounding prefectures and counties cannot compete with it.
Although Kaiping is only a small town due to the garrison of the garrison, it is an important transportation area after all, so it is connected in all directions, with merchants gathering, carriages and horses rushing around, and wealth abundant. It has a longer history than Paddy, Overseas Chinese Town, and Zhenzi Town, and is known as
Recognized as the first of the four ancient towns in Luanzhou, the Jingdong area is known as the “overfilled Kaiping City”.
Throughout the history of Kaiping, it has a complicated history and varied jurisdictions: it was Jizhou during the Tang, Yu, and Xia Dynasties, and it was Guzhu Kingdom during the Shang Dynasty. Later it belonged to Yan, Liaoxi, Beiping, Shicheng, and Khitan, and it was an important garrison area for all dynasties.
During the Qin Dynasty, it belonged to Youbeiping County. In the Han Dynasty, Shicheng County was established here as the county seat. It was later renamed Haiyang County. After the Jin Dynasty, it belonged to Liaoxi County. During the Five Dynasties, Emperor Gaozu of the Later Jin Dynasty, Shi Jingtang, ceded land to Khitan (Later Liao Kingdom).
Pingzhou, "the captured households from Dingzhou were moved here and the Luanzhou Yong'an Army was established." It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and in the middle is a small plain formed by the alluvial Luanhe River system of Mapingchuan. It successively governed Yifeng County and Macheng County.
and Shicheng County.
Historically, Kaiping spanned Shicheng and Yifeng counties. Until the first year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Kaiping Zhongtunwei first moved from Daning Shaling to Zhending, and then moved north to Shicheng Feixian in the third year of Yongle.
Therefore, due to the heavy garrison of troops, the old headquarters of Shicheng Waste County became an important military town. Because the garrison was Kaiping Zhongtunwei, this place was first called Kaiping Town. (Wufeng Note: Yesterday, a reader left a message and mistakenly thought Kaiping was Guangdong.
Kaiping County, I am really dumbfounded, so here I will introduce the location and history of Kaiping again.)
Kaiping Zhongtun Guards has two commanders, two commanders and magistrates, five ministers, five chief ministers, eleven deputy thousand households, thirty-two deputy thousand households, one guard and governor, and fourteen officials.
, with 5,677 soldiers, it is an important military fortress within the Great Wall.
After Kaiping became an important border town in the north, Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, attached great importance to the defense here and sent important ministers to garrison Kaiping many times: "In the first year of Yongle, Jiaxu, Gaoyang King Gaoxu prepared the border town for Kaiping"; in the eighth year of Yongle, in the seventh month of autumn, Ming Chengzu's relatives
Come to Kaiping to work the army; "In February of the eleventh year, Yingcheng's uncle Yan prepared for Kaiping"; "In September of the twelfth year, Guiwei, Cheng'an Marquis Guo Liang and Xing'an Bo Xu Heng jointly prepared for Kaiping"; "In the autumn of the eighteenth year and July, Dinghai,
Xing'an Bo Xu Heng dedicated himself to guarding Kaiping and guarding Beijing"; "In July of the 27th year, he issued an imperial edict to the world, and Wu'an Marquis Zheng Heng led Xue Lu to prepare for Kaiping."
Among the military leaders who guarded Kaiping, there were kings, marquises, and uncles. Their high titles were very rare in the history of guarding at the county and town levels at that time. This shows how much the imperial court attaches great importance to Kaiping and also highlights the military strength of Kaiping Town.
The importance of status.
The current Kaiping Zhongtun Guards does not have two commanders, but only one commander, Xuecheng. Coincidentally, Commander Xue from Xuecheng is a compatriot of Xue Qian, who is currently in charge of the Yangwu Marquis Seal.
His biological brother is also the biological uncle of Xue Yuan who participated in the last spring outing of Gao Ping Shi Jian Xin Zhai.
At the banquet, Xue Cheng was particularly affectionate towards Gao Jingshi. He even insisted on inviting Gao Jingshi to the table in front of Qi Jiguang, his immediate boss, which made Gao Jingshi quite embarrassed.
The first position was given to Qi Jiguang.
Originally, Qi Jiguang was not a vain person, and he had always respected literati. This time, he benefited a lot from Gao Pragmatism, and he was willing to let Gao Pragmatism sit on the table. However, it was just that Xuecheng was so obviously fawning over Gao Pragmatism.
He was a little surprised. After all, although Gao Jingshi had an extraordinary background and was now a close minister of the prince, Gao Gong was only Gao Jingshi's third uncle after all, not his biological father. Although the prince was the crown prince, he was still young after all. Xue
Cheng's performance was a bit excessive.
When it was time to toast during the banquet, Xue Cheng mentioned, "When the official heard that Gao Shi read about how to make that soap, it was like turning stone into gold. Now the sales in the capital have only been open for a few days, and the five shops are busy and overcrowded every day. It can be said that they are advancing day by day."
When "fighting for gold", Qi Jiguang suddenly realized.
I contacted the news that reached Jizhou in the evening, saying that on the day of Xinzhai's spring outing, several dignitaries from the capital gathered at the Duke of Chengguo's mansion. Within a few days, "Jinghua Soap" in the capital opened five stores at the same time, with limited sales on the first day.
His soaps were directly sold out by several nobles... Qi Jiguang understood that there must be some connection here.
Next, Xue Cheng's words became even more explicit: "Look, Gao Shidu, our Kaiping is small, but to the east is Yongping-Shanhaiguan, which is the main road into Liaoning. If Gao Shidu is interested in selling soap to Liaodong, our Kaiping
It can be used as a place to change hands..."
Qi Jiguang is naturally one of the rare talented generals when it comes to military affairs, but he is not good at business. After hearing this, he couldn't help but think to himself: Think about how expensive that soap is, how much can you sell it for in a small town like Kaiping? As for changing hands...
What’s the use of changing hands?
But Gao Pangshi didn't seem to look down on Xuecheng at all. He looked at him with a smile and asked: "Commander Xue, we Ming people don't talk secretly. Do you want the agency rights of soap in Liaodong?"
"Right of agency?" Xue Cheng was stunned for a moment: "May I ask Gao Shidu, what is the right of agency?"
Gao Pragmatic smiled and said: "The so-called agency right simply means that if a Liaodong businessman wants to run soap, our Jinghua Soap Factory will not ship the goods to him. If he wants to get the goods, he can only take it from you."
Xuecheng was shocked: "Is there such a good thing?"
"How?" Gao Pragmatic, like a devil tempting people to sacrifice their souls, said in an enigmatic tone: "As long as Commander Xue can agree to Gao's conditions, he can win the exclusive agency right to supply Liaodong soap. In the future, Liaodong
If a merchant wants soap, he can only get it from you."
Xuecheng's throat moved again and again, and he thought to himself: Is it possible that I am going to become rich? That Guoshi soap can be sold for one tael of silver a piece. If I take over the entire Liaodong agency, I'm afraid I will have to compete with Yangwu if I change hands every year.
The Hou Mansion is still rich!
"No...I don't know...what are the...conditions for being a high school official?" After all, it was the money that moved people's hearts. Commander Xue, who was living in the small town of Kaiping, was so excited that he almost stuttered when faced with such a good thing.
***The author has something to say***
I wish all readers and friends a happy Lantern Festival^_^ Thanks to the book friend with the ID "fengjiyue" for the tip.
