On November 3, Dorgon and nearly 3,000 Jurchen elites killed all the remaining several hundred Korean slave workers and used them as rations on the road, and then successfully arrived in Shengjing.
I also brought back all the sixteen cartloads of sand gold I found.
On the 4th, Yue Tuo, the leader of the Zhenghong Banner, immediately led his people to take over the gold, and then walked to the Liaodong Peninsula. After sending an envoy in advance to greet Guan Ning's army, he was allowed to pass.
On the 9th, the batch of placer gold mined in Houjin was successfully delivered to Lushun Port, where the gold ship from Xujiazhuang had already been waiting at the port.
Xujiazhuang's professional staff weighed the alluvial gold and measured the gold content with instruments.
The total weight is 12.056 tons (about 321,500 taels).
The average gold content is 85%.
Equivalent to 273,270 taels of pure gold.
However, considering that the detailed location of the gold mine was provided by Xujiazhuang, a professional guide was sent to help guide the way and found a river rich in placer gold. In addition, the equipment and tools used for gold mining were also provided by Xujiazhuang for free. Guan Ningjun was even asked to
We also provided a certain amount of food and materials worth 200,000 shi to avoid the problem of insufficient supplies.
Therefore, this batch of gold can only be exchanged for 9,564,450 silver dollars at a ratio of 1:35 - I wonder if this exchange ratio is acceptable?
"Okay, we can accept it."
Yue Tuo nodded, this ratio is quite conscientious. If he trades with Guan Ningjun, the exchange ratio of one to twenty is probably not even reached. They are a bunch of bone-crushing bastards. In the future, it is better to cooperate with Xujiazhuang more, although
You will suffer a little loss, but it is relatively fair.
Income of nearly 10 million silver dollars was recorded.
But Yue Tuo and the others did not get a single silver dollar, but a thick stack of bank drafts. Not only did they avoid the trouble of transporting silver coins, they were also safer. In addition, a Tianxiatong Bank branch was set up in Songshan City this year.
Therefore, they can buy all kinds of supplies they want in Songshan City with these money orders.
"Representative Shen, we would rather purchase from Port Arthur. We also want to buy a batch of sophisticated weapons to deal with the white-haired weirdos appearing in the north...Representative Shen, we would rather cooperate directly with Xujiazhuang than with Guan Ningjun."
They are squeezing too much when purchasing goods over there." Yue Tuo pleaded to Representative Shen in front of him.
"I can't make the decision on this matter, so I have to ask the superiors for instructions." Representative Shen said.
soon.
The senior management of Xujiazhuang headquarters sent two instructions:
First, Lushun Port is not a commercial port and cannot provide sufficient and complete supplies. It is better to go to Songshan City to purchase the goods. The prices of goods in the market there are not high. Xujiazhuang will pay for Guan Ningjun.
Say hello and ask them to provide the convenience of allowing Houjin to go to the market to purchase.
2. In terms of weapons, Xujiazhuang allows the sale of one thousand steel crossbows and one hundred thousand arrows (all with special numbers) for back money, with a total price of 600,000 silver dollars, and they cannot be used to harm Ming people. If a Ming citizen
After being killed by a steel crossbow, a permanent arms ban will be imposed on Houjin. As for whether it will be used to deal with the white-haired weirdo or the Kingdom of Korea, Xujiazhuang will not care - these weapons are expected to be delivered in March next year.
For these two items, Yue Tuo immediately said yes, because the steel crossbow manufactured by Xujiazhuang is very powerful, the effective range is not less than that of the fire blunderbuss, and it has high accuracy, faster shooting speed, arrows can be reused, and it can also
Covert sneak attacks have many advantages... For the Jurchen warriors, this is a more practical and easier-to-use weapon than the fire blunderbuss.
satisfy.
This transaction with Xujiazhuang can be described as happy and satisfactory. All the Jurchen warriors, including Yue Tuo, were all smiles, and their favorability towards Xujiazhuang increased by at least 30 points.
But on the 13th, Yue Tuo and other Jurchens came to Songshan City on fast horses with their pockets full of bank drafts. Full of expectations, they prepared to carry out a large-scale purchase of new year's goods at the Songshan City Merchandise Market. They planned to make some purchases this year.
Have a good year.
After walking through each stall and facing a dazzling array of various products, Yue Tuo and others asked about the prices.
Their smiles quickly froze on their faces and turned extremely angry.
Because the price of the product has increased.
The Nanyang rice was clearly priced at 1 silver dollar/stone, but Yue Tuo said he planned to ask for 500,000 dan, and could it be cheaper?
"I'm sorry, these rice are 2 silver dollars/stone, and we can't give you a price based on quantity," the grain store owner said.
"But your price is clearly 1 silver dollar/stone. I just saw someone buying rice, so you sold it at this price." Yue Tuo said.
"That's right, the price sold to the people of the Ming Dynasty was 1 silver dollar/stone, but you are slaves and Tatars. Doubling the price is already a bargain for you." The owner of the grain store said with hatred flashing on his face.
"We spend the same money, why should we be treated differently?" Yue Tuo said angrily.
"Those Liao people who died under your swords, tell me, you can sell them as much as you want. If the price is doubled, it will be cheaper for you!" said the grain store owner.
"Forget it if you don't sell it, I won't buy it yet!"
Yue Tuo angrily threw up his sleeves and walked away.
But as they continued shopping, they discovered that the merchant bosses in Songshan City seemed to be colluding. As long as they saw them coming, no matter what they purchased, the original price would be doubled.
This is true for grain and food stores.
Clothing stores are like this.
So is the grocery store.
Even if they went to an ordinary small restaurant for lunch, the boss would charge them double the price of the meal.
It’s clear that we want to kill them!
And all the merchants in Songshan City have reached a consensus, and they seem to know that they have money now, and they will get nothing if they don't take it.
However, Yue Tuo and the others had no good way to deal with it. They were not allowed to go to other cities to purchase. They wanted to find a Han intermediary to buy for them. Later, the intermediary received death threats and had to give up helping.
In the end, Yue Tuo and others had no choice but to grit their teeth and purchase materials totaling five million silver dollars at double the price. However, since the price doubled, the quantity was halved. Hou Jin wanted to have a good year this year, so
Take a bath.
…
the other side.
At a lavish banquet hosted by Guan Ningjun's top brass, someone told the story of the time when Jiannu's purchasers were destitute in Songshan City and were forced to spend twice as much.
The banquet scene erupted into laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"The founding slaves actually survived today."
"In our place, it is a dream to buy so many cheap supplies without being ripped off!"
"If you ask me, if the price has only doubled, it will be a bit cheaper for them. An increase of three or four times is not too much. After all, without our supplies, they will all freeze and starve to death. These life-saving supplies are expensive.
They all have to endure it!"
"In fact, the best policy is not to sell a grain of grain or a piece of clothing. When all the slaves freeze to death and starve to death, the timber, gold, minerals, and ginseng in Liaodong will all be ours. This is better than selling a grain of grain or a piece of clothing."
A mere few million silver dollars is a lot of profit."
"That's right, the Jiannu should have been exterminated a long time ago. We already have the strength to kill every last one of them!"
Zu Dashou took a sip of wine and said with a fierce look: "I don't think there is any need to continue cooperating with Jiannu. It is better to recuperate for a few months and kill Jiannu next year. In this way, everything in Liaodong will be the same."
It belongs to us!" Zu Dashou, who had surrendered to Hou Jin before and was as dog-like in front of the Jurchens, is now the hawkish figure in Guan Ning's army who is the toughest against Hou Jin. When it comes to establishing slaves, he is now ready to
He shouted to fight and kill, his face was very ferocious and his attitude was the most determined.
In the past, Zu Dashou's tough remarks would not have received support from many people, and they would even think that there was something wrong with his head. But now, there are countless people who support his views.
Cao Bianjiao stood up and said: "Uncle Zu is right. Jiannu is just a withered bone in the grave. His vitality has long been damaged and he cannot withstand any new blows. And our Guan Ning army is getting richer and richer.
How can you occupy such a small amount of land? Liaodong has countless lands, countless forests, and countless minerals. As long as we occupy Liaodong, we don’t know how much more money we can make in the future."
Zu Jinzhong said: "Yes, we want to expand our development space and cannot be trapped in one place. Xujiazhuang has built so many manor ports overseas. How can we live with the population?"
"Jiannu are so weak that they dare to occupy Liaoyang, Shenyang and other places without going back to their hometown in Jianzhou. I think they are just looking for death and beating. There is no need to be polite to them."
"Now we have 100,000 elites, more than 2 million people under our control, and a net profit of 30 million silver dollars a year. We are richer than the imperial court. How can we still not afford a small slave?"
Hearing so many strong voices.
Some dissatisfied and radical comments even began to appear. They felt that Guan Ningjun was too weak and was no longer good. He had no courage at all. He didn't even dare to fight a Jiannu with a weak blood. There must be someone with weak bones and a fear of death.
, it is better to let young people take charge of Yunyun... The insinuations are obviously the giants in Guan Ning's army headed by Wu Xiang.
This caused Wu Xiang to immediately issue an order not to discuss the matter again, and those who disobeyed the order would be severely punished!
Those tough voices finally stopped and they had to be buried in their hearts, but there was no guarantee that they would not complain again next time.
The banquet is over.
In a private tea room.
The four important giants of Guan Ning Army, Wu Xiang, Cao Wenzhao, Wang Yinghui and Zu Dabi, were all sitting on the sofa and soft chairs. They either had steaming tea in their hands or drank it in their hands, but they were all wrinkled.
He frowned and fell into silence for a while.
Actually!
Thanks to the close cooperation with Xujiazhuang, Guan Ningjun's development has been really excellent in the past few years. He has opened countless mines, set up countless factories, and made countless profits. The net worth of several of them has exceeded 10 million. They look like flowers and fire.
The momentum of cooking oil.
But that doesn’t mean there are no worries!
Especially in mid-September this year, for some reason, Xujiazhuang's "Oriental Times" suddenly exposed Guan Ningjun's family background without even consulting them, introduced the development of Guan Ningjun's various industries, and listed
They published a lot of data and tried their best to praise. Although the content of the report was very positive and there was no bad word, it completely destroyed their original intention of making a fortune silently.
As a result, this report was known to tens of millions of readers and listeners in Ming Dynasty.
Regardless of how much of a sensation this caused among the people, at the court and official levels, it was like dropping a heavy bomb, letting countless big shots in the Ming Dynasty know for the first time: Guan Ningjun is actually so rich?!
By opening mines and setting up factories, the money earned in a year is equivalent to the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty?
How could this happen!
Emperor Zhu Youjian was jealous.
The civil servants were jealous, and they immediately found out countless dirty materials about Guan Ningjun, carried out crazy impeachment, and were murderous. They said that they would abolish Guan Ningjun's posts, tax the mines and factories, and transfer Wu Xiang.
He went to Guangdong to serve as the commander-in-chief, asked Cao Wenzhao to lead troops to Yunnan to quell the rebellion, and asked Wang Yinghui to go to Ningxia to defend Mongolia. They obviously wanted to pick peaches and take away everything they had worked so hard to build.
Fortunately, after more than a month of desperate maneuvers, Wu Xiang sent people to spend six million silver dollars to bribe most of the civil servants in the court. He also said that Guan Ningjun would not need any military pay, money or food from the court in the future, and then bribed the emperor's side with heavy sums of money.
The eunuch who served in the palace promised to contribute one million silver dollars to the emperor's internal funds every year. At a considerable price, he could barely settle the gluttons in the court and keep the power and wealth in his hands.
It can be said that the explosive article in the "Oriental Times" cost them at least tens of millions, and they will have to pay tribute every year in the future, otherwise they will be given eye drops by the civil servants, and they will have to be careful in their conduct. They cannot be
If you find any clue, the crisis will always be there.
They were tricked by Xujiazhuang.
This should not be intentional, but it may also be intentional. After all, the current Guan Ning Army has become a brand-new capital interest group integrating military, commerce, industry, agriculture and animal husbandry, etc., and it is developing rapidly and has great potential.
The hugeness may have made Xujiazhuang feel a certain threat, so he suppressed it with praise and killing.
Then Jin suddenly reached a cooperation with Xujiazhuang and soon dug up a large amount of gold. This may also be Xujiazhuang's method against their Guan Ning Army. The purpose is still to contain and slow down the development of Guan Ning Army.
But sitting on the sofa chair, sipping tea.
Wu Xiang, Cao Wenzhao, Wang Yinghui, Zu Dabi and others did not dare to think deeply or imagine Xujiazhuang too badly. They would rather believe that Xujiazhuang did it unintentionally and was not to suppress and restrict them.
"Brother Wu, do you think Jiannu can be destroyed? Xujiazhuang, do you agree to let us destroy it?" Finally, Cao Wenzhao couldn't help but asked this question, which reflected his inner anxiety and worry.
"It cannot be destroyed! We must continue to do business with the slaves in the future, and we must not use weapons rashly."
Wu Xiang waved his hand and said immediately.
"But aren't the resources in Liaodong all cheaper than the Tatars? Besides, our mines will be dug out sooner or later. What will we do when we run out of mines? How will future generations make money?"
Cao Wenzhao said, Wang Yinghui and Zu Dabi nodded. Indeed, for the sake of future generations, it is absolutely impossible for Guan Ning's army not to expand.
"Don't be too greedy. Xujiazhuang asked Jiannu to send people to Songshan City to purchase supplies. This is a tacit agreement that we can kill Jiannu ruthlessly, allowing us to make a net profit of tens of millions of silver dollars on Jiannu's head every year. Liaodong's resources
, we have already gained a lot of benefits. If we are still dissatisfied and want to destroy the Jian slaves and directly occupy Liaodong, Xujiazhuang will never allow or tolerate it, and will definitely take severe measures to suppress us. If we offend Xujiazhuang,
Everything we have accumulated in the past few years may quickly fall apart and be reduced to nothing... We must not disobey Xu Jiazhuang on this matter." Wu Xiang said with an extremely clear mind.
"Then aren't we restricted?" Cao Wenzhao said with a frustrated look.
"No, as long as we show sincerity and gain trust, we will not be restricted and we will definitely get what we want." Wu Xiang said.
"Then how can we gain Xujiazhuang's trust?" Wang Yinghui asked.
"All the gold accumulated by Guan Ningjun over the years has been sold to Xujiazhuang at a low price. Several of our sons have been sent to Xujiazhuang to study abroad and act as protons. In addition, the Chinese New Year is coming soon. Starting from this year, we will give out heavier gifts.
...Anyway, show greater sincerity and make Xujiazhuang trust us more. Only in this way, even if we want to take over Liaodong in the future, Xujiazhuang will not object. The owner of Xujiazhuang is a kind person." Wu Xiang said.
"It makes sense."
"As long as Xujiazhuang trusts us more, he should agree with us to destroy the Jiannu slaves."
"Not to mention being a hostage, my son is clamoring every day to want to study abroad in Xujiazhuang."
Cao Wenzhao, Wang Yinghui, Zu Dabi and others all nodded and agreed with Wu Xiang's plan. It was just a competition to please. With Guan Ningjun's financial and material resources, if he tried his best to please Xujiazhuang, wouldn't he be better than a poor man?
To build slaves? In addition, everyone is from the Chinese tribe, Xujiazhuang will definitely be on their side.