Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 264 Anhan Trading Company
Zhen Yi stood up, saluted to Liu He, and then began to speak.

"I came to Bingzhou this time to discuss business with many big families in Bingzhou. Now those families have committed capital crimes and have been destroyed by Lord Liu. This is God's will. It is to guide my Zhen family to cooperate with Lord Liu from now on. Since it is a cooperation, my Zhen family should offer some sincerity."

After saying that, he extended a finger.

"I am willing to offer 100,000 shi of grain and fodder as a deposit for future cooperation with you, my Lord."

"Good! Brother Bo'an is really straightforward!"

Zhang Ding cheered.

Guan Yu and the others also had joyful looks on their faces, and they liked Zhen Yi more and more.

Cui Jun looked at Liu He and saw that he didn't seem as happy as everyone else, so he couldn't help but ask: "My lord, do you have any other ideas?"

Zhen Yi became a little anxious: "Master Liu, do you think I am not sincere enough?"

Liu He hurriedly explained, "No, sir, please don't misunderstand me. Sir, you are generous enough to help me in my time of need. How can I despise you? But sir, you also said that we are cooperating, so I am thinking about how to use this cooperative relationship so that both of us can benefit in the future. Isn't this much better than a simple donation?"

Zhen Yi was overjoyed. Wasn't what Liu He said exactly what he wanted? He had originally thought of making friends with Liu He first, and then having more exchanges in the future, and then formally discussing business. He didn't expect Liu He to be so straightforward, which really surprised him.

"I wonder how Lord Liu thinks we can cooperate?"

Liu He paced back and forth, seeming to be thinking about this matter.

"Liu is not good at doing business, so I'm sorry to say some crude opinions. I'm thinking, if you still do business as before, and then trade with me, then the incident of Zhang and Su being murdered last night will happen again sooner or later. And such a transaction will be more troublesome and risky."

Everyone nodded after hearing this.

"Then I wonder how Lord Liu thinks we should conduct this transaction?"

Liu He said, "I am thinking that the three of you, together with me, should jointly invest to set up a trading company. We can use this trading company to trade horses, livestock, cloth, silk, ceramics, grain, etc. The profits will be distributed among the four of us according to the investment ratio, and we will not personally participate in the daily operation of the trading company."

Su Shuang couldn't help but shout, "Great! This way, even if those people use the same old tricks again and capture or even kill a few of us, it won't affect the operation of the business itself. Even if all the people from our two families die, it won't help. This way, we will be safer."

"Yes, as long as it is profitable, we can absorb some powerful families from other places with good character to participate. As long as more people participate in the distribution of benefits and our own strength is strong enough, hehe, then even if the court wants to move against us, it may not be so easy."

Zhang Ding touched his chin and grinned.

Zhen Yi slammed the table and said, "Okay, Sir Liu, this is a great idea. Let's do it! But we still need to study the details of setting up the business carefully."

"It is better to do it now than to wait for a better day. Let's finalize this matter today and then start preparations as soon as possible."

Everyone in the tent was either a business tycoon, a strategic expert, or a general. They discussed from morning to afternoon, and after several hours, they finally decided on this important matter.

The four parties each contributed 10 million yuan to build an "Anhan Trading Company" in Yinguan City. The garrison troops would be responsible for maintaining public order in the city. At the same time, the trading company would hire a group of special guards. Later, the Zhang, Su and Zhen families would send reliable subordinates to jointly be responsible for the operation of the trading company.

The people of the three major families, including Liu He and others, are not allowed to directly interfere in the affairs of the business on weekdays. They can only decide the overall policy direction of the business. The specific affairs are fully responsible for a group of managers selected by the four parties. However, this chamber of commerce is different from the business of Zhang, Su, and Zhen. The three families usually run around, selling special products from the south to the north, special products from the coast to the inland, and special products from the Central Plains to the Hu people, so as to earn a huge price difference, but the journey is very hard, and it is easy to encounter thieves, government exploitation, etc.

The trading company is fixed in Yinguan City, or it will develop branches in other cities in the future. All goods must be transported to the city by each caravan, big or small. They can trade with other caravans in the trading company, or they can register with the trading company and rent shops in the city to sell the goods.

Of course, you can do business in the city without registering with a business company, but the business company will use the resources of various caravans to integrate them, which will naturally be of great benefit in terms of sales and security. This is especially important for some bulk commodities or higher-value goods transactions.

This idea was proposed by Liu He. At the beginning, people from the three companies, including Cui Jun and others, had some doubts about this kind of fixed-location business model. After all, in their eyes, if the business wants to grow, they must travel everywhere, but Liu He insisted on his own opinion.

"Don't worry, I guarantee that it won't be long before our business becomes a sensation in the northern states, and Yinguan City will become a holy city that many caravans and business families flock to!"

Seeing how confident he was, everyone stopped opposing him. After all, if this approach didn't work, they could just change it later.

The reason why Liu He was so confident was that he relied on the stability and relative prosperity of the many cities under his rule. In today's Han Dynasty, wars were raging everywhere and bandits were rampant. If merchants outside did not have enough strength to protect themselves, the risks would be extremely great.

People who do business hope to avoid risks as much as possible. If there is such a place where everyone can complete various transactions just by coming here, and this place is very safe and stable, which businessman would not like it?

Although the goods still have to be transported from other places, it is better to take this route all year round than to run around everywhere. Moreover, as long as you enter the territories of Taiyuan County and Yanmen County, your safety will be guaranteed. Not to mention anything else, the merchants within these two counties and surrounding areas will definitely be very enthusiastic about this.

What's more, Liu He has a secret weapon in his hand.

Since the imperial edict clearly stated that all affairs in the six counties were to be decided by Liu He, he decided to implement a "salt, iron and wine monopoly" under his rule. All salt must obtain a salt-making and salt-selling license from this merchant company. Restaurants and hotels that brew and sell wine must also obtain a brewing license from the merchant company. Mining iron ore to make pig iron and then selling it to various blacksmith shops of all sizes also requires obtaining the corresponding license.

At the same time, all minerals in the country belong to themselves. Anyone who wants to mine locally must purchase the mine itself from themselves in addition to the license.

This practice was not uncommon in various dynasties. Not to mention the Han Dynasty, even in the Northern Song Dynasty, the right to brew wine had to be purchased from the government in order to brew wine in one's own restaurant. Other restaurants could only buy wine from these restaurants at high prices and sell it.

As for salt and iron, they are even more related to national stability and security. The reason why the major Hu tribes in the north repeatedly went south was, on the one hand, for food, and on the other hand, to obtain salt and pig iron, because these two things were difficult to obtain through normal trade. However, the law and discipline were lax and the management was chaotic at the end of the Han Dynasty, which gave some merchant families and aristocratic families who were also doing business secretly the opportunity to make huge profits.

Nowadays, most of the iron mines, salt wells, and grain are controlled by major families. Blacksmith shops, restaurants, and taverns, as well as ordinary people, can only go to them to purchase. This has brought them huge profits, but the common people are suffering.

Although Liu He would not produce pig iron, salt and wine himself, he would let the merchant company select a group of blacksmith shops, salt merchants, restaurants, etc. that could obtain licenses first, and then let them produce their own ironware, salt and fine wine, and circulate them in the market, or display them for trading in the merchant company.

Then it is up to the buyers and the general public to choose whose products are good. Those who are proven to have no strength and technology and are just wasting the license, or who are trying to disrupt the market, will have their licenses revoked by the business, and may even be punished by the government.

With the implementation of such a powerful monopoly system, and the fact that the counties under Liu He's rule had a large population and the people were relatively wealthy compared to many other states and counties, the profits that could be generated were obvious to any discerning person. In the initial period of time, the business was able to rely on this system to survive, at least that was what Liu He himself thought.

Just over ten days later, a huge building was decorated in Yinguan City, and "Anhan Trading Company" was officially established.

The people in the city also wanted to join in the fun, so they gathered at the door to see what was being sold inside the business.

But to their disappointment, the store was empty and there was nothing inside.

(End of this chapter)