Lu Ming

Chapter 679 Returning to the North ([-])

1635, early November 11.

The north wind is bleak, and all things wither.With a strange icy rain + hail in the second half of the night, a cold wave swept across the Bohai Bay area overnight.

A cold wave is no joke, it can freeze the ground and freeze the sea.The aborigines in Tianjin woke up early in the morning, and the moment they exhaled white air from their mouths, they immediately felt the cruelty of winter.

In the memory of the older generation, the solar term right now is not as rainy or snowy.

But God doesn't open his eyes.In recent years, this kind of spooky weather that has been frozen in advance has become a common disaster in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The coming of a cold wave is a major event, especially in today's Tianjin city, which is extremely sensitive to the early arrival of low temperature.

However, the confirmation of bad news is always so timely and accurate.

At dawn, the messengers who traveled dozens of miles from the downstream Haihe Estuary, along the river pier and along the main street of the city, loudly confirmed the most important news to the aborigines: the ocean was frozen last night.

After hearing this piece of news that was accompanied by a biting chill, many people's faces turned frost instantly.

To be precise, the faces of the locals in the whole city turned frosty: it was broken, and the last large fleet before winter could not enter.

As an important node of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Tianjin was originally one of the important commercial centers of the Ming Dynasty.However, over the past few years, with the arrival of ocean-going fleets one after another, Tianjin has become the most important freight distribution center and emerging industrial city in North China.

The influx of industrial products, as well as all kinds of new workshops, new industries, and new infrastructure that followed, have made life a good life for everyone in the city.

It is no exaggeration to say that there is not a single aborigine in Tianjin today who is completely separated from Cao's industry.Anyone, more or less, directly or indirectly, eats the food of Cao Dashuai and holds the pot of Cao Dashuai.

Therefore, when the news of the cold on the ocean surface came, the complexions of the young and old fell apart in an instant.

The wealth brought by the shipping fleet far exceeds the value of the few tank ships on the Grand Canal.enter
The last fleet before winter usually carries a large amount of high-grade winter supplies such as cotton products, coal stoves, furs, kerosene, medicines, and Vaseline.

The young and old in Hecheng pointed at this fleet of boats to send away the North China merchants gathered in Tianjin, but the ocean was frozen. MMP, what should I say?

Wu Fazheng, who was in charge of Yixinlong Company, got the news immediately.Afterwards, he discussed it with his shopkeeper Wu Jiushu, but it was in vain.

In fact, Yixinlong also has ideas about the last fleet.

Although the main goods for Beishang have been prepared, who doesn't like to do extra points?Before that, what Uncle Nine longed for most was to get a little bit of "Huang An San" from the fleet. This anti-inflammatory medicine that can be taken internally and applied externally has long been promoted along with the vitamin pills that are most valued by southern marine merchants. It is as high as the grade of Shengsheng Huadan, and the price is comparable to gold.

Don't want to be unpredictable.

The old and young men have not finished digesting the bad news that came at dawn, but when it was time for breakfast, there was another news that did not know whether it was true or not: the fleet had actually arrived at Liuziwan yesterday during the day, and now it is trapped in Liuziwan.

Liuziwan is a small private port, located on the coast more than [-] miles south of Tianjin.

This news did not come from an "official" messenger, but from the "Uncle Party" at the Port Office.

When the clerk ran into the house panting to tell the news, shopkeeper Wu was stunned, first asked the clerk in detail, and then muttered: "It's better to believe it", and ordered the clerk to send a message to the car dealership to prepare the cart.

Then, shopkeeper Wu pulled Wu Fazheng up and walked out.

Outside the courtyard, shopkeeper Wu quickly ordered two horses to be brought in, and when they got on the horses, they rushed to the Haihe Wharf.

Along the way, Wu Fazheng, who was confused, didn't have a chance to ask Uncle Jiu carefully.However, as far as he observed, the news just now might really come true: businessmen and fellows who came out to inquire about the news were everywhere on the street, and the entire dock area showed restlessness everywhere.

Not long after, shopkeeper Wu and the two rode through the dock area, and ran forward for two miles, and finally stopped their horses on a high soil slope.

The next moment, shopkeeper Wu, who was looking around endlessly with the awning in his hand, let out a "ha" and pointed in front of him: "Look, the queue is here, the news is definitely true!"

Wu Fazheng heard the words and looked around, and found that on a large construction site full of stones and wood in the south, there was a brigade of laborers wearing blue overalls lining up.

"Go back and prepare the car!"

On the way back, Uncle Jiu told Wu Fazheng that such things as ship running aground and getting stuck on the shore would happen several times a year.Generally speaking, the Port Authority does not like "civilian" forces to participate in temporary incidents, especially when the incident takes place far away from the city.

Gein is difficult to coordinate and manage because of the scattered folk forces.

However, if the private horse-drawn carriage arrives first, the port office will not sternly refuse, and will pay the freight at the normal price.

So for today's matter, the port office will first mobilize its own team and means of transportation to transport the goods back to Tianjin at Liuzigang.However, there is no way for the Port Authority to completely block the news. More than 50.00% of the port employees are local employees, so the news will definitely leak out.

Speaking of this, Uncle Nine excitedly told his nephew: There is an unwritten rule in such incidents, that is, those who grab the goods can ignore the agency agreement and buy part of the goods on the car.

Hearing this, Wu Fazheng's eyes suddenly became sharp.After looking at each other knowingly with Uncle Jiu, Wu Fazheng whipped the horse under his crotch, turned around and rushed to the trading house.

Yixinlong is worthy of being a firm that started with the cavalry.When the Wu family's uncle and nephew came back, the five carts, including the mules and horses pulling them, were ready.

Without further ado, Shopkeeper Wu specially ordered 15 more guys, and set off with Wu Fazheng and the team.

The roads leading to other towns in the south of the city are not included in Tianjin's key infrastructure planning.So not far after leaving the city, the Wu family's cart had already started to drive hard on the old official road full of ruts.

But the good thing is that it is already winter and the ground is hard, so the wheels are not afraid of getting stuck in the mud pits that are common in spring and summer.

Sitting on the swaying carriage, shopkeeper Wu is in a particularly good mood at the moment. According to his estimation, this time the Yixinlong motorcade will most likely arrive at Liuziwan before the others.

At that time, if you are lucky, you may even be able to negotiate with the boatman and pick some goods to load first.

However, shopkeeper Wu miscalculated.

As the saying goes, Mo Daojun walks early, and even more early walkers.

After driving hard to the south for about 10 miles, shopkeeper Wu saw another convoy at the end of his line of sight.

Shocked, he urged the convoy to speed up. It didn't take long before he confirmed the banner hanging on the front of the car: Goldlion.

"This group of princes and relatives deserve to die!"

After cursing fiercely, Shopkeeper Wu told Wu Fazheng: The merchant with a light white banner full of the smell of copper in front of him is the brand name of Meijia in the north of Tianjin, and it cannot be messed with.

Having said that, Yixinlong's team has already followed behind the Meijia team.

The next moment, shopkeeper Wu jumped out of the car with a smile on his face, trotted all the way up and greeted the steward of the Mei family team, exchanged a few warm greetings, and then returned to his home team.

After that, shopkeeper Wu sat back in the car and introduced the details of Mei's business to his nephew in a low voice.

In other words, the Mei family's Jinlilai business name has only developed in recent years.

Ordinarily, this Mei family was originally just an ordinary household with a registered name in the local guard, running a fur business, which is not well-known in Tianjin City.

However, that year, Master Cao from the south went north to King Qin, and Mei Fuxi, the only son of the Mei family, was at odds with Cao Shuai's employment, and went with Cao Shuai to the North Great Wall to kill the Tartars and made military exploits.

"After that, the Mei family skyrocketed. Mei Fuxi is now the deputy general of the Feihu Camp, and he is highly valued by the Feihu Camp officers. Even the signboard of Jinlilai is said to be personally owned by the Feihu Camp officer Mr. Zhang. the name given!

When Uncle Wu Jiu talked about this, his eyes were full of envy, jealousy and hatred, and acid water seemed to gush out of his seven orifices: "Nowadays, Jinlilai of the Mei family sells [-]% of the Zhupolong's belts, bags and men's shoes in the south. The major shareholder of the whiskey distillery is damned, it’s really against the sky, there is no law for the king! Sooner or later, it will be punished by God!"

"Flying Tiger Camp?"

Wu Fazheng was not very interested in the Mei family's monstrous wealth.Because of his journey, he has seen too many "non-traditional wealthy families" in the south who rely on new industries to make their fortunes.

What interested Wu Fazheng was the Flying Tiger Camp that Uncle Jiu mentioned: "But the Flying Tiger Camp that beheaded [-] Tartar soldiers?"

"Exactly!"

Hearing this, Wu Fazheng let out a sigh of relief: "Such a strong army, it's only a matter of fate."

"That's not necessarily the case." When Uncle Jiu said this, he laughed: "Flying Tiger Camp used to go to the city for nothing. You have been here for a short time, so it's normal that you haven't seen it. But today's situation. Follow the rules. , there should be a battalion escort along the way, the second young master may have seen it."

Shopkeeper Wu, who had an insight into the local situation, really predicted things like a god. Not long after he predicted, a cloud of smoke rose in the distance behind the convoy.

Any experienced old man in the convoy can guess at this moment that cavalry is approaching.

Not long after, Wu Fazheng met the legendary soldiers of the Flying Tiger Camp.

The cavalry approaching from the rear, a total of about 20 people, maintained a straight line of uniform speed.

These cavalrymen all rode tall horses and wore square cotton hats that the natives were already familiar with, with a blue round iron plate inlaid on their foreheads. This cotton hat had a strange name, the "Leifeng" hat. It is master Fahai who sits in the Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou, and it is specially made for Marshal Cao to subdue demons.

The fierce-looking cavalryman wore a grass-green double-breasted woolen cloak, long black riding boots on his feet and legs, and a wide cowhide belt tied on his chest with shiny copper buckles.Behind the saddle of the cavalry, there are two short lances inserted in one color, and a long saber for cavalry is hung on the waist.

The next moment, the cavalry of the Flying Tiger Battalion, who looked extremely tough at first glance, brushed past the convoy.And when the cavalry passed by the Mei's team in front, a burst of extremely loud cheers erupted from the Mei's team.All the members of Mei's team raised their hands high at this moment, cheering loudly the word "hero".

"It has won the hearts of the people." Wu Fazheng murmured with a complicated expression when he saw the enthusiastic eyes of the young guys in the Mei's motorcade.

(End of this chapter)