1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2184
This time Golden Shield mobilized almost all local field personnel on duty, and the team was led by the treasurer Yuan Tao himself. The scale of the operation can be regarded as the largest since the establishment of the Zhoushan branch. It shows how much Haihan attaches importance to this.

Although Ma Zhengping is not very satisfied with the number of people dispatched by Jindun, both Yuan Tao and Duan Tiancheng said that this is already the upper limit of support that the Zhoushan authorities can provide at present. Feeling dissatisfied, the unlucky ones will not be the Zhoushan authorities, but Ma Zhengping and his gang who are suspected of luring wolves into the house.

Ma Zhengping also knew that this matter could not be forced, and the Yangzhou government would definitely have nothing to do with the Haihan people, but if the government got caught, the Huizhou salt merchants would not be able to enjoy the same treatment.Nowadays, there are quite a few people on the opposite side of the government in Yangzhou, and they will definitely make a big fuss if they get caught.

Fortunately, Ma Zhengping was also invited to check the weapons and equipment brought by the Golden Shield convoy this time. They were indeed all genuine muskets. Taking these guys to Yangzhou was definitely not for tourism.He knew that this was the reassurance that the Haihan people gave him, but even if the Haihan people did not take such a move to show their attitude, he could only choose to trust the other party. After all, this is the only external support that Huizhou salt merchants can currently get. If you don't believe in the Haihan people, who else can you trust?
What Ma Zhengping can do now is to quickly build the commercial warehouse on the Zhoushan side first, and at the same time start buying refined salt from Haihan, so as to show Haihan his cooperative attitude.

As for Haihan's requirement that Huizhou salt merchants obey the command in the future, Ma Zhengping also explained in the letter sent back to Yangzhou, and specifically emphasized the importance Haihan attached to this condition.Even he himself doesn't quite agree with this condition, but he hopes that other people in Yangzhou can put the overall situation first, at least at this stage, try to cooperate with the Haihan people's request as much as possible, and overcome the fatal difficulties.

Yuan Tao is no stranger to the waterway from Zhoushan to the mouth of the Yangtze River. When Zhoushan Branch opened up the business of Songjiang Mansion two years ago, Yuan Tao personally led the team to survey this route.

However, most of Yuan Tao took this direction before to complete ordinary escort tasks, but the tasks to be completed this trip to Yangzhou are really special.After he was promoted to the shopkeeper of the semicolon, he hadn't personally commanded the battle on the front line for a long time. It will avoid it far away by itself, and it is difficult to have a situation where a real battle will occur.

Golden Shield's dispatch this time was also the same as usual, with a banner depicting the huge Golden Shield logo hung on the mast.Although the scope of activities of Jindun is generally only in the south of the Yangtze River, the people who know their flag are far from limited to this. The name of Jindun is also well-known in Yangzhou, Huai'an and other places north of the Yangtze River. Even the government knew about this special institution that belonged to Hai Han.

When arriving in the waters of Suzhou Prefecture at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the two boats of Jindun encountered a patrol boat of the local Zhenhaiwei.After the ship recognized the identities of the two ships, the Golden Shield, it had no intention of approaching them for interrogation. Instead, it took the initiative to avoid the two ships' channels and did not want to have anything to do with them.After all, they also knew that Jin Dun was not easy to mess with. Last year, Yangzhou had a major case involving hundreds of lives overnight. It was said that it was because the local salt merchant offended Jin Dun.

Fortunately, these people also know that Golden Shield generally does not take the initiative to cause trouble, so there is no need to worry about being attacked by the other party. As long as they keep a safe distance, there will be no risk.

The journey went smoothly to Guazhou at the entrance of the Yangzhou Canal. The river narrowed here, and boats entering and leaving the canal had to line up in single file. A small boat slowly approached Jindun’s boat. Someone on the bow shouted loudly: “But it’s from Zhoushan. friends? My master specially ordered villains to come here to meet you!"

When Yuan Tao heard the call, he ordered the gangway to be lowered and let the man come up.Before departure, Ma Zhengping told him that when the Golden Shield team arrived in Guazhou, someone would pick them up, so that they could be taken to the arranged place to settle down.Ma Zhengping also specifically explained how to confirm the identity of the other party, so as to avoid being tricked by others when Jin Dun first arrived in Yangzhou.

Although the agreement between the Anhui salt merchants and the Zhoushan authorities was highly confidential, it was an open act for Jindun to send people to Hangzhou. Ma Zhengping had sent people back to Yangzhou to report to Yangzhou earlier, asking them to prepare for the placement of Jindun's troops in advance, but He wasn't too sure whether the news would spread to his opponent's ears, causing some malicious thoughts on the opponent's side, so he was extra careful and specially arranged for someone to go to Guazhou to respond.

After the man boarded the ship, he took the initiative to show a piece of paper, and the crew presented it to Yuan Tao.Yuan Tao took a look at the content. It was actually a meaningless note written by Ma Zhengping in front of him when he was in Zhoushan. He agreed to use this to confirm his identity, and then sent someone back to Yangzhou first.

The content of this note did not involve Jindun, and even if someone intercepted it, they would not understand its meaning, so Yuan Tao saw that it was indeed what Ma Zhengping had written before, and even if he confirmed the identity of the person who came, it was reliable.

"The villain is Dai Yingda, Dai's subordinate Di An, here to welcome Master Yuan and all the masters!" After seeing Yuan Tao, the visitor immediately reported his identity.

Yuan Tao knew Dai Yingda's name. Before he set off, Ji Yuanqing gave him information about Yangzhou salt merchants, including information about the seven surnames of Huizhou salt merchants.And this Dai Yingda was the one who made the decision in the alliance formed by these big salt merchants. It should be his decision to let Ma Zhengping go to Zhoushan to seek Haihan's help.

But none of the patriarchs of the seven surnames showed up in Guazhou, only the Dai family sent a subordinate to act as a representative. This arrangement also made Yuan Tao a little dissatisfied, thinking that the other party didn't seem to attach much importance to the arrival of Jindun.

Yuan Tao said: "Then shall we continue to Yangzhou City, or what?"

Diane replied: "My master has already prepared a residence for you on the south bank of the canal. Please sail north along the canal first. When you arrive at the place, the villain will remind you to dock."

Before Yuan Tao set off, he had studied the map of Yangzhou provided by the Military Intelligence Bureau, and knew that Yangzhou city was located to the north of the canal, while the south of the canal was relatively less prosperous.Yuan Tao thought to himself that this is going to arrange us outside the city, and he doesn't know what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd of the Huizhou salt merchant, so he can only wait for the place and then adjust accordingly.

Jin Dun's two boats sailed northward along the canal and sailed for another forty miles. After passing the Wenfeng Pagoda, Di An signaled them to dock.From this position, one can faintly see the outline of Yangzhou city wall on the north bank, and within the city wall is one of the most extravagant worlds in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Yuan Tao did not come on this mission to experience this gold-selling cave, but he knew that almost all the top figures of the Shanxi salt merchants lived on the north bank of the canal, and some of them lived in Yangzhou city.He believed that Hui nationality salt merchants must have a lot of real estate in the city. If they want to resettle the people of Jindun in the city, they should not be unable to find a suitable place.However, the other party did not make such an arrangement. Yuan Tao believed that this was probably because the Hui nationality salt merchants did not want Jindun to appear in Yangzhou City in a high-profile manner.

The place where the two ships of Golden Shield docked was a small pier, but although the pier was small, the infrastructure was very good. Not only was there a tower crane specially used for hoisting cargo, but there was also an open and flat road leading to the pier. inland.Judging from the more than 20 carriages waiting on the pier, the traffic conditions of this road should not be inferior to the official road.

"Is the place you arranged far from here? Do you still need to change to a carriage?" Yuan Tao asked Di An when he saw the many carriages parked on the pier.

Di An responded: "Master Yuan has misunderstood. These carriages are not used to carry the Golden Shield troops, but to pull goods. All kinds of materials you bring need to be brought ashore. Use these carriages to load them. As for the living The place is very close to the pier, so there is no need to transfer to a carriage.”

After saying that, Di An pointed to the distance, Yuan Tao looked in the direction he pointed, and there was a large manor about half a mile away, full of green tiles and white walls, with a very regular shape, it should be the place where Di An lived. said the place.

"Where is your master's property?" Yuan Tao asked while estimating the area of ​​the manor in his mind. Let alone more than 100 people who came here this time, it is estimated that they can all live in it with a few times more.

Di'an smiled, and replied braggingly: "Not only the manor, but also the pier and the land nearby are all the property of my master. The place that shopkeeper Yuan saw is called Dai's house. village."

Yuan Tao couldn't help but twitched the corner of his mouth. He knew that these big salt merchants in Yangzhou were very rich. It might not be an exaggeration to say that they were incomparably rich, but when the huge wealth was really displayed in front of him, Emotions will inevitably be affected.

"It looks good!" Yuan Tao didn't know how to express his feelings, so he could only respond bluntly.

"Treasurer Yuan, please?" Seeing that the gangway had been set up, Di An asked Yuan Tao to go ashore first.

After Yuan Tao came ashore, several people waiting on the shore immediately came to welcome him.Di Anju introduced: "Treasurer Yuan, this is my master, this is Lord Ji Qing, this is Lord Yang Chengye..."

Although Dai Yingda didn't go to Guazhou to greet him, he was sincere to be able to greet him here, not to mention that he was accompanied by several other patriarchs with seven surnames, which finally resolved Yuan Tao's previous dissatisfaction Mostly.

"The honored guest has arrived, and I am not far away to welcome you. Don't be offended by the treasurer Yuan! Today is really important, and the few of us can't get away. Forgive me!" Dai Yingda was very straightforward, and first talked to Yuan Tao when he came up. Apologizing, it made Yuan Tao feel uncomfortable even if he had any dissatisfaction.

Yuan Tao could only express that he had no intention of blaming his master, but he was a little curious about what had stopped these prosperous salt merchants from going to Guazhou to greet him.Of course, it doesn't rule out that it's just Dai Yingda's kind words, and they didn't plan to receive them with such a high standard at all.

Dai Yingda said: "Treasurer Yuan has been exhausted all the way, it's really hard work, I have prepared a reception banquet to entertain the brothers of Jindun. As for the residence, after receiving the news from Master Ma, I have already prepared it. Treasurer Yuan can check it in person later. "

Yuan Tao said a few words politely, thinking that this is still a bit of hospitality.If these salt merchants put on airs in front of him, they will suffer later.Fortunately, from the current attitudes of Dai Yingda and others, Yuan Tao feels that they should be very concerned about the military assistance provided by Haihan this time.

This time, there was a lot of equipment and supplies brought in from Zhoushan, and it would not be unloaded in a while, so Dai Yingda invited Yuan Tao to go to the manor to check the environment first, and then hold a banquet to entertain Jindun's people later.

"Dai's family is already the fourth generation in Yangzhou from my generation. The property of Dai's Village has also been accumulated slowly from generation to generation. However, most of the surrounding area is farmland, which is far less than that on the other side of the river. The Yangzhou city is so prosperous, it makes shopkeeper Yuan laugh!"

Dai Yingda took Yuan Tao all the way to the manor on foot, and introduced him the general situation of Daijiazhuang while walking.Yuan Tao was thinking while listening, if the area around the canal was owned by the Dai family, then the land alone might be worth 10 taels of silver.However, it seems that Dai Yingda lacks targeted management methods on how to turn these land properties into commercial real estate, otherwise the value of these land properties will be even higher.

There are mostly farmlands on both sides of this road, which is more than ten feet wide, and it is the time of summer harvest at this time, and many farmers in the fields are bending over to harvest crops.Seeing Dai Yingda and others, most of these farmers would temporarily stop their work, bow deeply to this side to show respect, and then resume their busy work.

"Daijiazhuang has more than [-] tenant farmers. The local grain output not only meets the needs of Daijiazhuang, but also has a slight surplus. So in addition to the salt industry, my Dai family also runs a rice business. "

Yuan Tao thought that if there was only a "slight surplus", it would not be enough to open a rice store just for this purpose. It seems that there are quite a lot of land under the name of Daijiazhuang.Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Dai Yingda kept these lands as farmland. After all, as long as the land is cultivated, there will be stable income, and if it is to be developed into commercial real estate, the initial investment is by no means a small amount. As far as Yuan Tao knows, Zhoushan Ding In the early stage of harbor development, Haihan’s official investment in local infrastructure was simply astronomical.

Even if these salt merchants have enough funds, they may not be willing to spend on projects with unknown prospects. Compared with real estate development with huge investment, farming farmland is probably the lowest risk mode of operation.

Of course, from another point of view, most of the profits of salt merchants are in the operation of the salt industry, so there is no need to operate other projects with huge risks.Buying land and growing grain to keep the bottom line is also the most common way for rich people in this era to increase the value of their property.Yuan Tao felt that if he had so much wealth, he would probably be like these salt merchants, desperately buying land and growing grain to become a big landlord.

(End of this chapter)