Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 272 Earn the money while standing
As early as the news of Li Hao being named the crown prince spread, merchants from the three northern provinces received invitations from the crown prince.

But when trouble broke out in Pyongyang, businessmen were somewhat confused. Could there be any good consequences from offending the Yangban?
Many merchants held secret meetings in their small groups, speculating that the prince had invited heavenly soldiers to drive out the Tartars and promised them a huge reward in exchange for "extorting" money and food from them.

When a country is at war, the people suffer.

As the middle and lower classes of the country, merchants were often "forced" to donate money and goods voluntarily.

Although some wealthy merchants could buy official positions and enter the yangban class, most merchants had been commoners for generations. Rather than refusing the invitation and angering the Crown Prince, it would be better to attend the banquet in person to test the other party's true attitude.

Is it to distribute money and grain, or is there some other meaning?
So all the merchants sent representatives or went to the state capital where the prince was in person.

Dozens of merchants with varying fortunes came from the three northern regions, and Cui Zaiming was one of them.

Korea is a mountainous country with dilapidated official roads that are full of potholes. He couldn't ride in a sedan chair, but he could ride in a simple horse-drawn carriage. More than ten servants followed behind him in several other simple mule-drawn carts.

The reason why Choi Jae-myung brought goods to the appointment was simple.

Since the prince has invited many merchants, there must be a large number of merchants rushing there with their goods. This is a good opportunity to trade.

Moreover, there are tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers around the prince, and each soldier has money in his hands. The demand is not comparable to that of ordinary people. Just buying some things is enough for him to make a lot of money to make up for the shortfall in the levied taxes and grain.

Cui Zaiming was taking a nap in the carriage's gabriel when he suddenly heard the loud shout of the coachman in front of him, "Master, we have arrived in Huangzhou..."

Cui Zaiming, who was almost falling asleep, slowly opened his eyes, and a feeling of annoyance at having his sweet dream disturbed arose spontaneously.

He lifted the cover unhappily, shook off the fallen snow, and stuck his head out to look in front of the car.

The snow outside Huangzhou City was cleared to create a wide road.

There was a constant flow of traffic here, with people and mules coming and going, and there was no sign of having been ravaged by the Tartars. Many merchants and farmers set up tents directly outside the city, and iron pots placed on piles of firewood were steaming.

The carriage under Cui Zaiming continued to move forward, and the scene outside the city became clearer and clearer. He could even hear the noisy sounds of pedestrians talking and bargaining.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Suddenly a wave of roar came, and Cui Zaiming felt a cold sweat on his back.

He looked closely in the direction of the roar and saw that thousands of soldiers were practicing martial arts in the military camp outside the city. Guns and arrows rang out, as if they were not practicing battle formations, but fighting a life-and-death duel with real swords and guns.

As the carriage gradually approached the provincial capital, the many temporary military camps outside the city became increasingly visible, and the shouts of the soldiers inside the camps became deafening.

When did the North Korean army become so elite?
After listening carefully, I realized that what they were saying seemed to be Chinese, and then I realized that they were soldiers from the Ming Dynasty and the Beiwei Army.

Cui Zaiming's sight happened to fall on a pair of soldiers who were sparring with each other in martial arts. They had neat short braids hanging behind their heads and were dressed in simple clothes, just like wandering heroes.

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth persons were placed in front, back, left and right, raising their hands to form hollow squares in front of their eyes, as if they were casting a spell to make the evil spirits invisible.

"Chapter 9 of "The Legend of the Pig-Slaying Hero" - Begin!"

With a clean and neat roar, the two soldiers who had been confronting each other for a long time seemed to come back to their senses, and each of them waved their weapons and started fighting.

The two men's movements and attacks were flexible and varied, just like the generals in the novel who fought for three hundred rounds, and their fighting and parrying were full of experience from long battles.

The clashing of swords made a thud-thud sound as the two men attacked and defended simultaneously, occasionally leaping up together and dancing in the air.

Then he shouted out moves that Choi Jae-myeong couldn't understand, such as "Sword Breaking Style", "Starburst Air Stream Slash", "Invincible Slash"...

Several times, the sharp knife almost hit the other person's fatal point. Lao Cui, who had a strong sense of substitution, once thought that the knife would chop off his own head, and he couldn't help but worry about the person who was at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, the man had rich practical experience and was able to escape danger many times.

Finally, the two soldiers suddenly distanced themselves from each other, sheathed their swords, and then closed their eyes. The soldiers beside them held large fans and brushed away the snow, dust and gravel around them. Even the hair of the two soldiers began to fly, as if some invisible force was gathering.

And those "passersby" who were showing talismans in their hands almost put their hands on the tip of the "knight's" nose.

Suddenly, the two confronting "knights" suddenly opened their eyes, the swordsman drew his sword, and a ball of blue flame climbed along his body armor to the tip of the sword.

Another swordsman drew his sword, and a ball of green flame also attached to the sharp blade.

what is this? !!

Cui Zaiming was horrified and instinctively sat back, almost falling off the carriage. The coachman and servants were also shocked and kept letting out low cries.

Why would a good sword emit fire of such a strange color!

Why didn't the other soldiers around show any fear or alarm, as if they were used to it?
Cui Zaiming's heart beat faster and faster, almost bursting out of his chest.

He closed his eyes to calm himself, but the strange image of the burning sword kept drilling into his mind.

If that was a flame, why would it be blue and green? But if that was not a flame, it meant that there was some secret magic blessing!
At this time, the soldier beside him said in a voice-over, "These two have actually reached the pinnacle of college!"

"College peak?!" For a moment, all the soldiers training around were silent.

The swordsman snorted coldly, raised his sword and roared, "Heaven and earth are united!"

The other man also sneered, glared at her and roared, "The Great Demon Transformation!"

The two seemed to have a mutual understanding, but they had to kill each other's natural rivals. In just a moment of charge, the blue fire sword and the green fire sword collided fiercely.

"Crack!"

At the sound of the soldier who raised his hand in front of him shouting, the two duelists immediately stopped their hostility and plunged their burning swords into the snow. When they pulled them out, they became normal, intact weapons.

"The filming was really good! I was right, the ultimate move has to be shouted out to look mighty and domineering."

"It's true. Just now I really felt like I was some enlightened cultivator. The blood in my body was about to jump out."

"How do we shoot the next chapter..."

After the "performance" of the magic duel ended, Cui Zaiming hurried on his way with lingering fear.

Even when he stepped into the gate of Huangzhou City, he was still sighing in his heart.

Those two masters were so skilled in magic that they could control their powers with ease. And the Crown Prince actually had a master who could cast magic to assist him?!
What on earth is the Crown Prince plotting? What on earth is he seeking?
The Crown Prince has already obtained most of the country's power, so Choi Jae-myeong dare not even think about what he wants.

He subconsciously moved his right hand, reached into his collar, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face.

He had no idea of ​​doing business at this moment. Even if this group of "immortal soldiers" who were intimidating without even getting angry wanted to take him hostage, steal all his goods, or even blackmail him for a large sum of money, it would be no problem.

As long as the mountains are green, there will be no shortage of firewood. Keeping a life is more important than anything else. As for business, you have to be alive to talk about it.

How can a mere mortal like you compete with an immortal?
What shocked Choi Jae-myeong even more was that the official who greeted the merchant was none other than Mr. Jiang Shangxian. Who was Mr. Jiang? He was a distinguished figure whom Choi Jae-myeong had to pay a huge sum of money to meet!

Now he even cordially invited them to visit his government office to discuss some trade matters.

It’s not about the distribution of money and grain, but about trade affairs?

The shadow brought by the evil fire sword suddenly disappeared, and Cui Zaiming couldn't help but feel a little anticipation.

So Cui Zaiming followed the same group of merchants into the yamen. Instead of having a big banquet in the room where everyone clinked glasses and had fun, they went directly to their destination.

A warehouse.

what's the situation?
Cui Zaiming and other merchants looked at each other in bewilderment. They saw several soldiers in infantry armor approaching the piles of straw bags in the warehouse and stabbing them with knives.

Cui Zaiming suddenly saw a vast expanse of white "sand" pouring out of the bag.

"Look what this is?"

The soldier pointed at the white soil beside him and puffed out his chest with pride, as if he was a chef who had returned from training, cooked a sumptuous meal, and was waiting for his family to applaud and praise him.

Could this be it?

With a premonition of surprise in his heart, Cui Jae-myung bravely stepped forward.

He looked at the soldier cautiously, and after receiving the latter's nod of approval, he lightly dipped a finger into the white particles and put them in his mouth to taste.

This is really salt!
It is pure white salt!
Cui Zaiming's tongue was dry and his eyes turned green. These soldiers actually scattered such white salt on the ground like this!

Mineral salt and well salt are of the highest quality, but are controlled by high-ranking officials and wealthy families. Sea salt is relatively inferior and has a higher processing cost.

Whether it is the coarse salt monopolized by the big families or controlled by the government, it is not worthy of being compared with the salt in front of us. This is the real snow-white!
Even an illiterate old farmer knows that people will have no strength without eating salt. Salt is almost equivalent to a disguised poll tax in dynasties.

The diet in ancient times was monotonous, mostly consisting of pickled foods, and the per capita consumption of salt was much higher than that of modern people.

Salt is a basic necessity that has never had trouble selling. Even though North Korea is surrounded by the sea on three sides, it has many mountains and people everywhere are short of salt supply.

Moreover, at the end of the dynasty when productivity was affected by war, supplies were scarce and everything was expensive, the price of salt also rose sharply, and the price of salt in salt-scarce areas was several times higher.

The fresh, salty and delicious white salt in front of you tastes even better. Whether it is the lower or upper route, it is more competitive than the coarse salt commonly used in the market.

Excellent products mean seizing market share. In Cui Zaiming's eyes, the mountains of white salt are no longer food, but a pile of enviable silver money!

The prince has his own "immortal" to help him, but he did not annex the goods of the merchants, nor did he force them to share the military expenses. This shows that the prince is interested in doing business!

Understanding the other party's thoughts, the merchant spirit in Cui Zaiming was instantly revived, and other merchants also quoted their own prices.

Even though the people of North Korea were poor, the middle and upper classes still had wealth in silver and money.

The soldier representing the prince offered 25 copper coins per pound of salt, which was a mid-range price in the heartland of the Ming Dynasty, even a little expensive, but it was a good price in North Korea.

As soon as the Beiwei Army took over southern Liaoning, they developed salt fields in the coastal areas and "arbitrarily" stockpiled a large amount of salt.

Originally, the players planned to raise the price to make a lot of money, but after discussing it, they felt that the "small profits but quick turnover" approach was better.

After all, the purpose of the Beiwei Army in selling salt was not to make a fortune, but to establish a stable supply channel and attract merchants to willingly transport goods to southern Liaoning.

Sea transportation currently offers the best cost-effectiveness, and players hope that North Korean merchants will take a ship to Lushun to sell goods.

At this time, the leader had already arrived in Shandong with his troops, and many Ming army units had already returned to their bases. It was only a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty intervened in Liaodong and weakened the Beiwei Army.

The Beiwei Army will have to face major changes sooner or later, so they must find ways to stockpile some supplies now.

Players are in urgent need of resources such as food, fodder, beans, grain bags, ammunition boxes, and even labor.

However, they did not have extra ships for transportation, nor did they have the money to intervene in the Ming Dynasty's salt trading network, so selling salt and other goods to North Korea was the best option.

Choi Jae-myeong was thinking in his mind as his facial features, which had been trying hard to remain calm, were almost unable to hold on.

A pound of salt costs twenty-five cents, and can be sold for fifty cents.

Now we have found a good way to make money with no loss!

If you want to pick up a large amount of goods, you must have a ship. You should know that the price of a ship is very high. Even if Cui Zaiming has a large family business, he can hardly afford it.

The sale of illegal salt will be cracked down by the government, and the prince's residence has offended the two classes, so it seems that there is no way to support these merchants.

Probably sensing the merchants' concerns, the soldiers said that "sea trade" was an agreement between the Beiwei Army and Korean merchants, and the prince was just a middleman.

No matter how the situation develops in the future, the Beiwei Army will be a solid backing for these merchants. As long as the merchants transport the goods urgently needed by the Beiwei Army to Liaodong, they will be guaranteed to become rich.

it is good!
Back then, the Ming army stationed in Dongjiang used the trade channels of Korea and Japan. The Korean government dared to attack merchants, so how could they dare to attack the Ming soldiers?

With the support of the Ming Dynasty soldiers, these merchants don’t even have to be afraid of the Yangban. After all, the royal family still has to consider the influence of the Yangban, while the Tianbing only needs to kill people.

Moreover, this year the country was ravaged by the Tartars, and countless refugees were displaced. As long as he could provide some guidance, he would be able to exchange human resources for salt.

Make money to recruit workers, recruit workers to exchange for salt, sell salt to make money, recruit more workers, make more money to buy more ships...

Choi Jae-myeong made up his mind!
Buy a boat!

He has only run a few small businesses in his life, earning a fair amount of money. Now that a big business is right in front of him, why doesn't he quickly bet his entire fortune and wait for it to take off?

Some businessmen are still thinking about it, while people like Choi Jae-myung have already decided to go all in and make money.

Batches of merchants received satisfactory "business orders" from the prince, and the Beiwei Army was gradually opening up dozens of supply channels.

Just when the Beiwei Army's career was flourishing, an observation balloon floating on the top of the hill discovered a group of people approaching from the south.

It turned out to be a defeated army of several hundred men.

They brought back shocking news.

The royal army led by Yangban was ambushed by the Tartars and almost annihilated. They were now heading towards Huangzhou.

(End of this chapter)