Late Tang

(Thanks for the dream never being fulfilled, Feihu has the support of two sunny days, thank you!)

Huainan, Luzhou, Chaohu.

At the mouth of Tongjiang River and Ruxushui River on the south side of Chaohu Lake, Yang Xingmi sat on the Hukou Mountain and watched the constant traffic of merchant ships, with a deep smile on his face, and a sip of green tea from time to time, looking radiant.

"Brother, last year's accounts are out. Guess how much we earned?" Gao Xu exclaimed excitedly, holding a writing brush in one hand and an abacus in the other.

On both sides of the hall on the mountain, there are more than a dozen high-ranking chairs on each side, and there are big and strong men sitting there.At this time, everyone's eyes were on Gao Xu, eager to know how much money he made last year.

This group of people are all dressed in silk, and they all look like they are either rich or noble.But if you look carefully, you can find that under the silk, there are still bows and guns on the body, and there is a fierceness in the eyes of each of them, and they are not ordinary people at first glance.

"Since we failed to invest in the township in the northwest, we returned to Huainan with our eldest brother, gave up our old business, and started to work hard here. Over the past few years, the business has become more and more prosperous. I remember our business the year before last. The income is more than 30 yuan, last year's business should be better than the year before, and it is estimated to be around 40 to 50 yuan." Tian Dechen, who was sitting in the second chair under Yang Xingmi, said with a smile.

Another dark-faced [-]-year-old man said: "Last year, Gao Qianli and Li Jiyu had an arm-wrestling, and the business in Huainan was affected a lot. I guess last year was about the same as the year before last."

Holding the account book, Gao Xu, dressed in a robe, smiled triumphantly, "It's wrong, the two elder brothers are wrong. Last year's income has been calculated, which is a full 110 million yuan."

"What? 110 guan?"

A series of exclamations sounded in the hall, and everyone looked in disbelief.Even Yang Xingmi, who was sitting on the first chair, who was imposing and personable, with a face like Song Yu's and a face better than Pan An's, who was nicknamed "Jun Yang Lang" was stunned.

Yang Xingmi was a salt trader in Jianghuai in his early years, and was later captured by the governor of Luzhou. Because of his extraordinary appearance, he was spared death and sent to the Northwest Shuofang to guard the border.By chance, they captured a group of Shatuo cavalry wanted by Li Jing, and met Li Jing, the governor who had just defeated Shatuo at that time.

Originally they wanted to join Li Jing's command, but they didn't have the chance to meet Li Jing at that time, and they couldn't join the town government.Yang Xingmi didn't want to go back to Shuofang to garrison troops, so he simply took the reward money given by the town secretary, took a group of brothers as deserters, and fled back to his hometown in Luzhou, Huainan.

After returning to Huainan, a group of brothers originally proposed to rebuild their old business, go up the mountain to become thieves and smuggle salt, and some people suggested simply defecting to Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao.But in the end, Yang Xingmi persuaded everyone to use the reward money he got from Li Jing as capital, and started a legitimate business.

They are in Luzhou, with Chaohu Lake as their base camp, from Feishui in the north to Chaohu Lake, Chaohu Lake to Ruxushui in the south, and then to the Yangtze River. Hengjiang Caishi Ferry, one of the two major ferries in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

At the beginning, the capital was small, and we made small troubles, and by the way, we relied on the mountains to eat the mountains, and the water to eat the water, and occasionally did a few transactions without capital.

Gradually, the cost increased, and they stopped doing these no-cost transactions, but relied on Luzhou's geographical advantages to continue to expand their business.Luzhou is located in the middle of the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, and between Shannan, Huaixi and Zhejiang.Whether it is from the south or the north, this is the only way for businesses to pass.

Especially when the merchants in Denglai started to open up the Jianghuai trade route, Yang Xingmi and the others also seized the opportunity to make the business continue to grow.

But at this time, when Gao Xu said that he made a full 110 million yuan in net income last year, everyone was still shocked.Earning more than 100 million guan a year, this figure really makes their eyes red.

"Master Gao, did you make a mistake in your calculation?" Even Xu Wen, who has always been steady, couldn't help asking loudly.

"How can it be wrong? This is the third time. It's absolutely true. We did earn 110 million yuan last year, and this is the net income after deducting all the capital." Gao Xu said proudly.

Yang Xingmi rubbed his two big palms tightly, and said in an excited voice: "Master, how much money do we have in our account now?"

Hearing the boss ask this question, Master Gao's face immediately lost the brilliance just now, and he kept silent.

"Why, is there no money in the account?" Yang Xingmi's face darkened.

"Brother, we really have no money in our account." Gao Xu replied honestly.

The people who were still happy just now started clamoring. They can make a lot of money every year. The year before last was 40, and last year it was 110 million. If you add the previous two years, it may be more than 200 million.In the past few years, everyone has not divided the money much, saying that they have enough capital to make the business bigger, but now, they actually say that they have no money.

"Master Gao, did you buy the money?"

"Are you greedy for ink?"

.......

All kinds of doubts sounded for a while, making Gao Xu's face turn purple, and he almost flew into a rage.

Turning around, I brought a few large ledgers and slapped them on the table, "You must speak with your conscience. Every income and expenditure of ours is clearly recorded in the accounts."

"Then why are our 200 million yuan gone?"

Gao Xu also pushed back without fear, "Don't you think it costs money to eat and drink, and since last year, don't we spend money on the eight cottages we built? Don't these brothers who have been recruited secretly in the past few years don't need food? Plus the guys' stuff, it all costs money."

Hearing Gao Xu mention this, everyone nodded. Although everyone has started a serious business in the past few years, but in today's world, it's okay to have nothing to rely on.What's more, they still have the status of deserters, and everyone used to be bandits and salt sellers, so as soon as they had money in their hands, they secretly recruited brothers, bought armaments, and prepared for training.

Up to now, they already have eight secret cottages, and the secret brothers have almost 5000 people.

"Last time, my eldest brother contacted the businessman in Dengzhou and bought a batch of equipment. Everyone saw it. It was a good thing. There are a thousand sets of sixty percent new armor, plus there are so many The bow and crossbow long contradictory cards, etc., have completely upgraded our 5000 troops to several levels. This batch of equipment is not cheap, and it cost a total of 100 million guan, and it was I who tried my best to erase the odds." Gao Xu Road.

When it comes to the newly equipped ordnance, although everyone is surprised at the price of 100 million guns, but considering the quality, they think it is worth the money.

"Well, the master has made great contributions to this matter. Those batches of armaments are all good guys. Even the Luzhou government army has a lot of equipment that is not as good as ours. Expensive is expensive, but good products are worth it." Yang Xingmi praised directly Gao Xu said a few words. "We now control the Chaohu and Yangtze River waterways in Luzhou. In addition, the Feishui and Ruxushui are also under our control. In addition, the land route from Huaixi to Hengjiang Quarrying Ferry passes through us. In the future, this business will only grow. The bigger it is, the more money it will make.”

While talking, a strong man outside reported, "Master Li, Mr. Li is back."

The head of Li, Li Shenfu, is a brother Yang Xingmi has recruited from the army in the past few years, and he has sworn sworn brothers with everyone.However, on the surface, he was still among the officers and soldiers, and his identity was very secret from them, but unexpectedly he came up the mountain at this time.

"Brothers, I got the news that Gao Qianli has attacked Marshal Li." Upon entering the hall, Li Shenfu, who was dressed as a businessman, immediately said loudly.

Yang Xingmi stood up abruptly, "Is this really true?"

Li Shenfu took the cup of tea that Xu Wen handed over, and drank it all in one gulp, "There is nothing wrong with it, I heard this news from Chazi by accident."

Hearing that the news came from Chazi, everyone knew that there was no fake news.

Chazi's full name is Inspectorate Envoy, who was set up by Lu Yongzhi at the request of Gao Pian to recruit insidious and cunning people to roam the streets and alleys as spy agents.It has the same surname as Lijing Gate of the royal family, six gates of the Ministry of Justice, Li Jing's Supervision Office, and Tian Lingzi's challenger.

"What's the specific situation?" Yang Xingmi is not a person who is willing to commit suicide, but also a person with courage and courage. He dared to think and do it. Since he went to join the town and failed, he resolutely took his brother as a deserter. After returning to Huainan, he became a businessman again, but secretly recruited soldiers and bought horses secretly. After training five thousand brothers, it can be seen that this is definitely not a person who is willing to be ordinary.

Li Jingxiong is in the north, and Gao Pian is now in Huainan. If these two people fight, the whole of Huainan will face great changes.

"Gao Pian has already divided his troops into two groups. One is going to raid the Hudou Prefecture at the mouth of the Yangtze River to go to the Qin army, and the other is going north to attack Haozhou. I heard that he is going to rob Xuzhou and Sizhou from the Qin army." Li Shenfu told him all about sending troops. All the news came out.

"Send this news to Boss Jing in Hezhou immediately." Yang Xingmi pondered for a moment, then immediately said to Xu Wen.Boss Jing is the owner of a large firm in Hezhou, but they know that Boss Jing is secretly a member of Marshal Li, and they bought their weapons from Boss Jing last time.

"I'm afraid it's too late. Yangzhou sent troops last night." Li Shenfu said.

"Call our brothers together!" Yang Xingmi murmured.

"Brother, do you want to take someone to help Qin Jun in Hudouzhou?" Xu Wen asked in surprise.

Yang Xingmi nodded, "I think Gao Qianli can't beat Marshal Li, but in the current situation, even if Li Dashuai can beat Gao Qianli, it is impossible for him to extend his hand to Huainan for a while. If we help him this time, maybe he can Support us to replace Gao Qianli in Huainan."

In just a few words, Yang Xingmi's thoughts were clearly stated. The two gods were fighting, and Yang Xingmi actually wanted to take millet out of the fire.

"Brother, I think something is wrong. Even if Gao Qianli can't beat Li Jing, his body is not something our little arms can resist. Moreover, I think that if the Huainan Army goes north to compete with the Qin Army for Xuzhou I won't win, but if I deal with Hudouzhou, I will definitely win. Gods fight, beware of mortals suffering." Xu Wen knew the ambition in Yang Xingmi's heart, but it was not a good opportunity to come out at this time.It's right to want to hug Li Jing, but I'm afraid that Gao Pian will be angry because of it, and I can't bear it then.

"Why don't we send people to send the news to Hezhou first, and then take a few people to secretly go to the mouth of the Yangtze River. If the Qin army is really defeated there, we can save as many as we can secretly, so as not to offend Gao directly. Parallel, you can also sell Li Jing a favor." Liu Wei also said.

Yang Xingmi thought for a long time, and finally felt that this proposal was relatively safe, so he immediately nodded in agreement. (To be continued.)