Late Tang

At noon on the second day, Feng Zhang's men arrived at the Phoenix Mountain wharf with three boats as scheduled.

Their contract brought [-] ransoms and [-] pensions, as well as [-] complete sets of equipment.The people Feng Zhang sent to take charge of this matter were the family general Feng Lin and Cang Cao Zheng Anmin. These two are old acquaintances. They were the two that Li Jing and the others saw last time when they went to Daxie Village. people.

Li Jing personally brought Zhang Hong, Liu Shouqian and Zhang Chengzong's group to exchange. Seeing that it was an old acquaintance, Li Jing smiled and went up to say hello, but Feng Lin was very different from last time's enthusiasm, just snorted coldly With a sound, he turned his head away.On the contrary, Cang Cao and Zheng Anmin were still very polite.Zhang Hong came forward with a few officials and counted the things that the Feng family had moved off the boat one by one.Forty thousand coins is not a small number, and because of the severe money shortage in the late Tang Dynasty, it is impossible to pay copper coins for so much money.This time Feng Lin and the others brought a full [-] bolts of silk, which was exactly [-] guan worth of copper.The other three hundred sets of equipment are also very complete, including spears, horizontal bows, longbows, armors, etc.However, Li Jing just took a look and found that these weapons were basically used for several years, and all of them were eliminated by the army. Although they can still be used, they are basically old and broken.The armor is not iron armor, but old leather armor, and many places have been repaired.

However, Li Jing didn't care much about it. Originally, this was just beating rabbits, and getting these things was already completely an accident among accidents.Anyway, repairing it and sending it to the logistics soldiers to equip it can still have a lot of effect.

Zhang Hong counted very carefully, counting back and forth as many as three times, seeing Feng Lin's complexion darkened, and he was extremely impatient.But after Li Jing handed Feng Ming and more than [-] people over to them happily, his complexion improved a lot.In the end, Li Jing proposed to Feng Lin that if Daxie Village still had some spare weapons, no matter how old or new, he would be willing to bid for them. In addition, if he could get food, cattle, horses, agricultural tools, seeds, etc., even iron and copper materials He was willing to buy various materials such as ox horn, tendon, raw lacquer, isinglass, Zhe wood, and white wax rod at a price [-]% higher than the market price. Feng Lin's eyes lit up immediately, and his face became eager once again. stand up.

Feng Lin patted his chest and said that he would go to Zhang Luo immediately after returning, and he would get Li Jing as much as he wanted.When they left, Li Jing and Feng Lin were almost like brothers, and they seemed to be inseparable.On the contrary, Cang Cao and Zheng Anmin are still the same as before, and are very kind to Li Jing.Before leaving, Li Jing gave him 100 taels of silver collar, which was kind of mean.After accepting Li Jing's gift, Zheng Anmin felt a little embarrassed, and said with a smile: "Judging from General Li's tone, it seems that he is preparing to manufacture ordnance by himself. If so, I have some connections in terms of various raw materials. If necessary, I can introduce you to one or two."

"That's really too polite. Brother Zheng also saw that my island has suffered heavy losses this time, and now Daxie Village is only willing to draw some broken weapons for me. If there is another pirate attack, then I will I don’t know what to do. Now I have to find a way to make some by myself. Although there are a few craftsmen, the raw materials are not easy to get. Thank you Brother Zheng for your help.”

After some agreement, as long as the materials sent by people introduced by Zheng Anmin, Li Jing will buy them at [-]% higher than the market price.

The people who had just sent off Feng Zhang, before the ordnance and silk cloth piled up on the pier had time to be removed, several ships under the flag of the Dengmen Navy arrived again.Wang Jin finally withdrew yesterday evening. Before leaving, he asked Li Jing to return those craftsmen to him, and was willing to pay money to redeem them.This request was rejected by Li Jing in one go. There is no money to be made, but it is difficult to gather such talents as craftsmen for a while.After finally having more than 700 craftsmen, Li Jing would not let them go.Finally, after several bargains, the two sides reached an agreement.

The Wang family's property on the island that Li Jing confiscated was no longer pursued by the Wang family.And the seven hundred craftsmen were presented to Li Jing by the Wang family, and then the families of the craftsmen were sent to Salmonella Island.Correspondingly, Li Jing had to return the originals of the letters and ledgers in Cyclops' hands to Wang Jin. In addition, the bodies of Wang Fu and the two hundred guards had to be returned to the Wang family.In addition, the shopkeepers and assistants of the shops and warehouses on Wangjia Island, except those who voluntarily stayed, and those who were willing to return to the Wangjia had to return them.In addition, with regard to this pirate attack, Li Jing is not allowed to say that the Wang family has something to do with the pirates at any time and on any occasion.As compensation, the Wang family paid Li Jing [-] yuan as a sign of sincerity for the two parties to reach a peace agreement.And it was agreed that from now on, the two sides will not offend each other, will be friendly to each other, and will not offend each other.

On the surface of this agreement, Wang Jin was uncharacteristically compromising and giving in to Li Jing.Originally, Li Jing thought that if the [-] craftsmen of the Wang family were detained, the subsequent extortion of [-] guan would definitely fail.Unexpectedly, the Wang family agreed without much hesitation, without even bargaining in the end.Although this result made Zhang Hong and the others extremely happy and made a large sum of income, it made Li Jing feel more vigilant.

Wang Jin's unusual behavior probably indicates that Wang Jin is not retreating and compromising, but is temporarily retreating to advance, and there must be some bigger conspiracy brewing.But Li Jing is not afraid, all he needs is time, if Wang Jin really wants to retreat, then it won't take long for him to taste the bitter fruit sown at this time.Wait for the opportunity, fight for time, then see who fights better.

The [-] coins of the Wang family consisted of money, grain, and silk, and it took half a day to unload the goods at the pier.As soon as the cargo was unloaded, the Wang family's fleet picked up the hundreds of people from the Wang family and left directly.

That night happened to be the Shangyuan Festival, and Li Jing ordered the whole town to take a three-day vacation as early as yesterday.Zhang Hong was also sent to buy a large amount of pig and sheep wine from Dengzhou, and bought back a lot of materials. All the women in the town worked together to make countless large and small lanterns.As soon as it got dark, Shamen Town was covered with lanterns of different sizes and shapes.There are dragon lanterns, tiger lanterns, fish lanterns, sheep lanterns, rabbit lanterns and so on.On both sides of the streets in the city, there are activities of guessing lantern riddles and giving gifts.

All the soldiers also received a huge reward of ten strings per person from Li Jing, and the common people also received a string of money and a reward of one bucket of rice for the Shangyuan Festival.Although it was a large sum of money, even Zhang Hong, the miser butler, was very pleased when he saw the city was full of joy and the post-war shadow of the pirate attack was shaken away.

Although Shamen Township suffered heavy losses in this battle, its popularity quickly recovered.Now, four brand new temporary camps have been built outside the city again, and the tents are lined up one after another, which is even better than before.

During the Shangyuan Festival, Li Jing did not accompany everyone to enjoy the lanterns.

Tonight, he summoned hundreds of representatives from all the merchants on the island to the town general's mansion, and formally dealt with these merchants for the first time.

Inside the spacious Town General's Mansion, the lights are bright, and teams of servants outside the mansion are guarding both sides in full armor.In the mansion, Li Jingju sat in the first seat of the lobby, Lin Wei, Zhang Hong and other civil and military officials lived on the left, and the representatives of the hundreds of merchants all lived on the right.

At this time, a long scroll was placed in front of all the merchant representatives.Countless terms and conditions were densely written on the long scroll, and the merchants read the terms carefully. However, almost every merchant's face became more and more ugly, and even breathless.

The hall was very quiet, only the panting sounds of those merchants.

After a long time, finally an old man with white beard and hair, who was very clean and tidy stood up.

"General Li, you just took over the wharf built by us merchants with their own funds, and now you have come up with these Shamen town business management regulations. What do you mean?"

Li Jing chuckled, "What do you mean? Isn't it clearly written on it? This is a management regulation aimed at managing the island's business order and safeguarding everyone's interests. The four piers were taken back because of the last time the pirates Reasonable arrangements made in response to the incoming attack. This is a measure to protect Shamen Town, and it is also a measure to protect you."

"You are simply trying to plunder our wealth, so why protect our legal interests. Look at what is written on it. In the future, all merchants must register in Shamen Town and obtain a business license issued by Shamen Town. In addition, all From now on, the shops in the town will have to pay the Shamen Town General’s Mansion the public security management fee, street sanitation fee, town construction surcharge, and comprehensive management service fee every month. What are these? Scrape off."

Zhang Hong explained with a smile: "The public security management fee means that we will send patrol teams to patrol the villages, streets, and docks every day in the future to manage public security and protect safety. The street sanitation fee will be used by each village in the future. There are public toilets, public bathhouses, and disposal points for garbage and waste materials in every wharf on the street. We will send special personnel to clean them every day. As for the surcharges for town construction and comprehensive management service fees, these are not difficult to understand. Salmonella is better."

Immediately, someone thought about it and shouted dissatisfiedly: "Then it says that in the future, all shopkeepers, shop assistants, and workshop craftsmen and workers of the shops on the island must be registered regularly and receive ID cards. Those who stay for a short period of time within one year must apply for a temporary residence permit." If you don’t apply for a residence permit after three days on the island, you will be arrested immediately if the inspection finds out? Isn’t that what’s going on?”

Wang Zhong couldn't help but stood up, stared at the audience, and shouted: "Issuing identity cards, temporary residence cards, and registering all craftsmen and buddies is to strictly prevent thieves and spies from sneaking into us. On the island of Salmonella, stealing information and inquiring about secrets. These are all for the sake of the present, if the pirates come to attack the town of Salmonella again, can you guarantee that the pirates will not loot your shops first?"

"Then what about the charges for this terminal? The four terminals originally belonged to our merchants, but now they are forcibly taken over by you, and you still charge? Look at the charges listed above, such as ship port fees, pilotage fees, Mooring fees, mooring fees, unmooring fees, mooring fees, loading and unloading labor fees, miscellaneous operating fees, cargo storage fees, and detention fees are all charged. There are also wharf construction fees, wharf management fees, And on holidays, all fees are doubled, and nighttime fees are charged by [-]%. You took our pier, and now you still have to charge these various fees, you are too shameless!" Another merchant representative spat angrily. .

"That's right, it says that in the future, you can only load and unload goods on the wharf with the feet of your designated civilians. What is this? There have never been such rules before, and now you are messing around!"

Zhang Hong said with a friendly smile: "Although there are more charging items, they are actually just detailing the charging items. This is open and fair. More than [-]% of the charging items are planned according to the ship's load. For example, a When a cargo ship of [-] shi docks at the pier, we charge one penny for the weight of one shi each time, while a ship of [-] shi docks at the pier for only [-] pennies, which is not much.”

Immediately, a merchant yelled: "It's not much, one charge is one hundred yuan, but you can see how many items there are, at least ten charge items, and you have to pay at least the same amount once you come down. This does not include the payment to the stevedores. The price is doubled during holidays, and the price is tripled at night during holidays.”

"Excessive taxation is fiercer than a tiger!" someone shouted from below.

Li Jing has been sitting there, watching the reactions of these merchant representatives with cold eyes.As early as the first day of landing on the island, Li Jing had already decided that his territory would never tolerate an existence beyond his control like the concession.He didn't have the time and didn't find the right opportunity before.Now, taking advantage of the prestige of annihilating the invading pirates, and taking advantage of Song Wen's momentum, in the gap between the confrontation between the two major forces, Wang Jin and Feng Zhang were forced to compromise temporarily, Li Jing finally seized the opportunity This merchant has taken a stab at it.

Take back the four piers first, this is the most critical point.With four piers in hand, all merchants on the island will be unable to jump.After mastering this key point, Li Jing proposed the registration of merchants, the registration of shopkeepers, clerks, and craftsmen, as well as the issuance of identity cards and temporary residence cards, all of which are to monitor the merchants on the island.The charges for these many items on the dock are Li Jing's sharp weapon to suck blood from these merchants.Merchants on the island do not pay taxes and various fees, which are all things of the past.

Now, although Li Jing doesn't collect their taxes, but the various expenses are listed, and each of them will have to pay money to Shamen Town in the future.

The merchants below became more and more noisy as you talked to each other, and in the end, it simply became a vegetable market.At the beginning, Zhang Hong and others argued with them, but in the end, they simply let them yell.

Li Jing watched with cold eyes for a long time, until these people became more and more outrageous and arrogant, he suddenly stood up, pulled out the long sword at his waist, and cut off a corner of the old case in front of him with the sword.

With a clang, the corner of the table fell, and the servants who were guarding the door in full armor rushed in, the shining spear points in their hands shaking, and the frightened and pale faces of the merchant representatives were reflected on the sharp spear points.

Li Jing looked at his sword to himself, and smiled slightly: "My sword is still so sharp. Yesterday I used this sword to chop off the head of the sea robber Cyclops without any damage. It is really a good sword, a good sword I just don’t know who’s head will fall under the sword next, and whose neck will be at this moment!”

After saying this, Li Jing looked up and glanced at the merchants in the hall, and asked with a smile: "Just now I heard that everyone has opinions on the regulations on the industrial and commercial management of Salmonella Island that I drafted? Whoever has an opinion, come forward!"

Wherever Li Jing looked, the representatives of the merchants turned pale and shook their heads hastily.

Looking away, Li Jing smiled and said: "Since no one came forward, it means that everyone has no opinion and agrees with this new regulation? Well, everyone is a sensible person. Come, have a banquet to celebrate, and serve fine wine Today I have a drunken rest with all of you, but I declare in advance that from now on, anyone will only talk about romantic affairs and no longer talk about business. From tomorrow, the new regulations will be officially implemented. At that time, everyone should remember that you stated today Don't break your promise, otherwise, my sword is about to reappear!"

(To be continued)