Hu Wenting, a native of Xuzhou, is an elegant middle-aged man in his early forties. He once read poetry and books, and obtained the title of scholar. However, due to the decline of his family, he had no way to survive, so he had to interrupt his studies and make a living by doing business to support his family.
wife, children and children.
His business style is very Confucian and businessman-like. He is honest, fair in price, and honest. He has won the trust of countless customers. His business has grown bigger and bigger. In addition, he has the reputation of being a scholar to protect him, and he has gradually become prosperous.
rise and become a famous big businessman.
More than three years ago, he was lucky enough to hook up with the Xujiazhuang line and reach a long-term cooperation. Through the canal, he continuously sold Xuzhou coal to Xujiazhuang, and then wholesaled Xujiazhuang's various specialty goods and sold them to the Xuzhou market.
After returning home, he made a lot of profits and accumulated hundreds of thousands of family assets.
but……
Since April and May this year, his business has become increasingly difficult.
The mine owners of various coal mines in Xuzhou unanimously increased their prices. The price of coal per stone rose from less than a hundred yuan to more than three hundred yuan, which was more than three times the increase.
Secondly, when transporting through the Grand Canal, you will encounter seven or eight tax checkpoints, four or five more than before. His reputation as a scholar does not apply. The government even imposed heavy taxes on goods shipped to Xujiazhuang. Each checkpoint
There is a tax of one out of ten, and by the time you complete the entire canal journey, the cost has doubled again.
I can't do it anymore.
How to continue this business?
So this year his caravan made two or three trips to Xujiazhuang, and then stopped going. One trip would result in a loss of tens of thousands of taels, and a few more trips would wipe out his fortune.
But instead of doing business related to Xujiazhuang, he could go back to his original small business and earn a few thousand taels a year, which was pretty good. However, the profit dropped by at least ten times, which made him very uncomfortable. Although he was a Confucian businessman,
He doesn't pay too much attention to money, but the family's income has dropped, and the quality of life has also dropped by a certain level. His wife and children have complained more. The caravan guys who followed him have also become more popular. If it weren't for watching
Because he is a good boss, some people have already offered to resign and change jobs. After all, some well-connected big businessmen not only control the mines, but also have the ability to solve the water transportation issues. Doing business with Xujiazhuang is prosperous and has a bright future.
Brighter.
If Hu Wenting's situation continues, it is highly likely that his Hu family caravan will fall apart.
Just when he was at a loss, Xujiazhuang's commercial representative came to find him and negotiated a major cooperation with him in a secret room.
The specific content of the cooperation shocked Hu Wenting and she couldn't help but tremble.
Because the commercial representative of Xujiazhuang invited him to develop in Yixian County, Shandong Province, and take over all the local coal mines. He also recruited all the miners. From now on, Hu Wenting will be the mine owner and sign a long-term supply contract. No matter how many coal mines are dug out, Xujiazhuang wants them all.
As for the funds to purchase the coal mine, Hu Wenting will provide it, and the "housekeepers" of Xujiazhuang will help lower the price to less than 100,000 taels. In addition, the guys from the Hu family's caravan, Xujiazhuang will all be armed, each with a set of plate armor.
The alloy-handled Yanling knife costs only 30 silver dollars, and has a combat effectiveness comparable to that of the regular army of the imperial court, enough to suppress some restless miners.
"Isn't this...isn't this a mine that robs others?"
Hu Wenting said in a trembling voice, how could he, who had received more than ten years of traditional cultural education, accept such a thing of robbery? Even if he was on the stronger side, he would never tolerate such a serious violation of morality.
Dare to do it.
"In today's world, if you don't rob others, others will rob them. You are a good person, but how will your business lose this year? The situation will get worse in the future. Think about your family, think about
Hundreds of guys in the caravan, hundreds of mouths, and hundreds of families are all counting on you for food. What are the consequences of your kindness as a woman? You will be eaten completely!
Will you wait until your wife, children, and children start to starve to wake up?"
Xujiazhuang's commercial representative shouted at him.
"I...I'll think about it."
Hu Wenting said with sweat profusely.
However, he had no time to think about it. That night, his wife, two concubines, three sons and four daughters, and more than ten members of his family, came together to persuade him to agree to cooperate with Xujiazhuang, a mine in the entire county, such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
, once you miss it, when can you meet it? It’s not like Xujiazhuang can’t find other partners.
The next day, more than 300 strong men from the Hu family's caravan also came to the door. What surprised Hu Wenting was that these old men, who had been with him for many years, actually all had sharp Yan Ling knives and wore them.
A set of silver armor, posing as if they were about to rebel, surrounded him, and then they all knelt down to persuade:
"Master, let's do it. As long as we have our own mine, what we will earn from now on will no longer be the hard-earned money from running errands!"
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, boss. My two sons and one daughter have eaten meat five times this year. They all want to eat meat!"
"My boss, look at this knife, it cuts iron like clay! And this armor, it's invulnerable! The people from Xujiazhuang gave it to us. With this equipment, what kind of mine can't be taken down?"
"My boss, if you don't agree to cooperate with Xujiazhuang, I'll kill you!" The man put the knife directly on his neck.
"Boss, other people drink from big bowls and eat meat in big chunks. Why are we the ones suffering and being bullied? We also want to eat meat, and we also want to live a good life!" the waiter roared with red eyes.
Faced with so many enthusiastic and extremely unwilling men, Hu Wenting, who was forced to have no way out, could only nod his head and obey their will.
…
soon.
Three days later.
Even in the freezing weather, Hu Wenting changed from his usual Confucian businessman attire and put on a set of light plate armor. He held a sharp knife in his hand and led more than 300 fully armed men into Shandong.
Within Yixian County.
The next process is that for those mine owners who own coal mines, Xujiazhuang's commercial representatives will send people to negotiate with the mine owners based on the size of the coal mines, intending to offer them at prices ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands taels (only normal prices
1/10), bought their mine, because Shandong is now full of wars, and in order to save everyone’s lives, the wise thing to do is to sell the mine.
If the mine owner, who is aware of current affairs, agrees, Hu Wenting can just ask someone to carry the silver and settle the account on the spot.
If any of the mine owners refused, the opportunity came for Hu Wenting to show up that night. He just took more than 300 men and shouted the name of "Marshal Kong Youde's Army" and rushed into the mines and killed the mine owners and their families.
Chop it into minced meat and the deal is done.
Of course, if you encounter a strong mountain villa fortress, more than a hundred of the most elite Xu Jiajun will help lead the battle, use special operations methods, and use breech guns to eliminate the defense forces in the villa. The banner is "Marshal Du Firearms Battalion" and open the door from the inside.
Later, Hu Wenting led more than 300 men to attack.
through these two processing modes.
In less than ten days, Hu Wenting took control of all the coal mountains in Yi County and became the sole mine owner. In the process, more than ten battles took place, more than 30 workers were injured or killed, and more than 100,000 yuan was spent.
Two bought mines, but after breaking through many villas and fortresses, more than 300,000 taels were seized. Xu Jiajun took half of it and Hu Wenting got half. In the end, he made a net profit of 50,000 taels.
A small part of the extra silver was used as pensions for the casualties, and most of them were rewarded to more than 300 clerks, with an average of one hundred taels of silver distributed per person. All of his clerks became bloodthirsty and wanted to kill, clamoring for the future
If you encounter an uncooperative mine, just attack and capture it directly. Why say more?
…
Mid November.
Laiwu County is home to many iron ore mines.
Lu Youxing, who has been running the iron ore business for many years, is also in his forties and has a fierce and ugly face, but he has no Confucian businessman temperament. He has been an unscrupulous profiteer from the beginning. After embracing Xujiazhuang's thick thigh,
He immediately exposed his true nature and caused a massacre in Laiwu County.
He first spent all his wealth, took out 150,000 taels of silver, purchased 500 sets of plate armor alloy Yanling knives from the Xujiazhuang commercial representative, and armed more than 500 of his clerks, and then there was no negotiation for the purchase.
Whenever there is an iron mine that he likes, he immediately leads people to attack it. He himself often rushes to the front with a long knife.
Every time he takes over an iron mine, he will recruit a small number of miners who are dissatisfied with the mine owner, let them kill the mine owner's family, force them to join the gang, and then use part of the captured mine owner's wealth to buy plate armor and alloy geese.
Feather knife.
More than half a month later.
After dozens of fights, all the iron mines in Laiwu County fell into Lu Youxing's hands.
At this time, he actually had an elite army of 3,000 people under his command, all equipped with plate armor and alloy feather knives. Because most of these soldiers were miners, they had extremely strong combat effectiveness. They were the army of the imperial court.
Even Lu Youxing doesn't care about him anymore. If the elite Xu Jiajun hadn't suppressed him and ordered him not to cross the border to occupy the mines, otherwise he would be sure to capture all the mines in Shandong and the entire Ming Dynasty!
…
Stories like Hu Wenting and Lu Youxing are happening in many places in Shandong.
More than 500 Xu Jiajun elites were also divided into five teams, each with more than 100 people. On average, they helped a group of businessmen occupy the mines every half a month. In just one month, the mineral resources in Shandong were
The resources were basically occupied by the businessmen supported by Xujiazhuang, and they all had very strong self-defense capabilities and were not afraid of the threat of the Dongjiang Army rebels and the encirclement and suppression by the imperial army.
to December.
Only the Zhaoyuan gold mine located in Laizhou Prefecture has not yet been controlled by businessmen supported by Xujiazhuang because it is under the control of the rebels.
In addition, due to the chaos in the Shandong Peninsula, a large number of locals fled to other places, causing the mines indirectly controlled by Xujiazhuang to face the problem of insufficient miners and insufficient production capacity. If they do not find ways to increase manpower and restore production capacity, they may not make much money next year.
Face these two problems.
A businessman named He Yousheng, who already controlled all the limestone mines in Linzi County, suddenly had an idea for the gold mines in the Zhaoyuan area. He told the Xujiazhuang Commercial Representative: "Now I have 3,500 elite plate-armored miners under my command, which is enough."
After destroying the Dongjiang rebels, if I capture the gold mine occupied by the rebels, and then take the captured Dongjiang soldiers and civilians to the mine to mine, wouldn't it mean that both the mine and the miners are mined, killing two birds with one stone!"
The businessman's self-confidence was so inflated that he felt that he could put down the Dongjiang rebels on his own and turned the captives into slave miners.
The Xujiazhuang business representative was surprised and immediately made a report and asked Xujiazhuang whether he should support this businessman's arrogant plan?