Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 110 Collusion
Money needs to be borrowed, but we can't rely entirely on the Cao family. Liu Daogui stared at the map and thought hard.

Live by the mountain, eat from the mountain; live by the sea, eat from the sea. The mountains around Lanling have been eaten, and what is left is the sea. His eyes shifted to the two neighboring counties of Langya and Donghai.

Lanling County was separated from Donghai County. It only has five counties and is small compared with the surrounding counties. Next to it is Langya Port, a major port since the Qin and Han Dynasties.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there have been five major ports in the world: Jieshi (Qinhuangdao), Zhuanfu (Yantai), Langya (now Huangdao, Shandong), Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang), and Juzhang (now Ningbo, Zhejiang).

The Yimeng River system and the Huaihe River network are well-connected, and Langya Port and Lanling are connected by waterways.

Liu Daogui couldn't help but feel his heart beating fast.

Nowadays, the population is growing and the pressure of survival is increasing.

Although a large area of ​​wasteland has been reclaimed, it will take at least three years to turn it into fertile land. The first two years are all investment, and it would be good enough if the cost can be recovered.

It just so happened that the chief clerk of Langya County was Liu Muzhi.

Liu Daogui immediately rode his horse to Hexiang County in the northwest. This county was located in the southeast of Mount Niqiu and bordered Rencheng County of Yan State. It was a border of the border and had been invaded by bandits for many years and was basically abandoned.

But the land here is fertile and close to Mount Niu, so it has great potential for development.

Great minds think alike. Cao Ji had the same idea as Liu Zhong, which was to build a fort here to close the northwest gate of Lanling.

Since he was promoted to Sima, he has been very busy. Liu Daogui has been in the city for more than half a month without seeing him.

"How much do you want to borrow?" Cao Ji opened his eyes wide.

"Not much, just 20,000 strings of cash." Liu Daogui stretched out two fingers.

Cao Ji gasped, "To be honest, my family...can't afford that much money."

"Brother, you are being polite. How could I not know the details of the Cao family?"

"Great! It must be Ah Fei who is spreading rumors. She has been married into your Liu family for less than two months and already she is colluding with the insiders and outsiders!" Cao Ji looked strange.

The two brothers and sisters supported the Cao family together and knew each other well...

"Don't say such harsh words. What do you mean by spreading rumors and colluding with others? Or are we still a family?"

The Cao family handed over all their followers and territories, but kept all their money.

The previous debt has not been settled, but considering the relationship between the two companies, the interest does not need to be paid.

"Twenty thousand is too much, I really can't afford it. How about five thousand?"

"One price, fifteen thousand."

"I can't take out 15,000 right now. It's only 10,000, no more. I can lend it to you tomorrow." Cao Ji emphasized the word "borrow".

How much money you have and how much money you can take out immediately are two different concepts.

Liu Daogui stopped embarrassing him and said, "Brother, you misunderstood. This isn't a loan, it's a partnership. I plan to purchase a sea vessel and add a fleet. We can go fishing and do business. We'll split the profits 20% to 80%."

We had successful experience in Guangling before.

Li Damu has trained more than seventy sailors, who can catch more than a thousand kilograms of sea fish and other aquatic products from the near sea every month. If they are lucky enough to catch big fish, they can bring back more than two thousand kilograms at a time.

With them as the backbone, and then recruiting a group of people from Langya County, the fleet can be set up.

The sea these days is an inexhaustible treasure house.

It was only because the shipbuilding industry of the Wei and Jin dynasties did not keep up and the risks were too great that it was not favored by the aristocratic families.

In fact, in addition to fishing and doing business, Liu Daogui has another plan.

To plunder Yandu, the fastest escape route is by sea.

They could even use the banner of Tianshi Dao. Tianshi Dao was a mixed bag, with many evil spirits and factions. It was reasonable and logical for Tianshi Dao to rob Sima Daozi of his salt and money.

Cao Ji also knew the huge benefits involved. With a fleet, he could do both legal and illegal business. From Lanling, he could enter the Yishui River, the Huai River, and the Bian River, and he could directly reach the Central Plains and Hebei! In the fourth year of Taihe (369), Huan Wen led his troops to the north to attack the Former Yan, opened up the Huan Gong Du, and connected the Ji River with the Yellow River.

In the future, we will be able to do business with Yan State.

Murong Chui was invincible in battle, but his governing ability was slightly weak. The State of Yan also needed various supplies from the south, so the Yan army not only did not harass merchants, but instead protected them and reduced commercial taxes to encourage merchants to transport supplies from Jiangzuo to the State of Yan.

This business was controlled by the dignitaries of Guangling.

Lanling is located just to the east of Huan Gong Du, with a unique geographical location and natural geographical advantages.

"Cao and Liu are all family. It's not right for me to give you 8 and 2. Let's split it in half." Cao Ji was very straightforward, and I don't know if he was pretending to be confused even though he knew the truth.

This is somewhat similar to Cao Tengyun.

Liu Daogui's expression froze, and he chuckled dryly, "Brother, you misunderstood. We are one family, so we don't have different opinions. The Eight Buildings own 80%, and the Cao family owns 20."

Cao Ji raised his eyebrows.

Liu Daogui refused to give in. It was impossible that the fleet he had worked so hard to build would become the selfish property of the Cao family.

These days, a knife can buy money and power, but money is not always the same.

The two looked at each other for a few breaths, and it was Cao Ji who compromised first. "Fifteen thousand coins is almost all the assets of my Cao family. Brothers should settle accounts clearly, and the interest is 50%."

"Didn't you just say you could only take out 10,000 strings of cash?"

The bronze Buddha that was exchanged for the Cao family last time alone was worth more than 10,000 strings of cash.

My brother-in-law is good in every way, except that he is a bit stingy and greedy...

"Just now was just now, and now is now. With a fleet, we will have a caravan. If it's not enough for you, wait for two months and I will add another 10,000 strings of cash!" Cao Ji is a typical fence-sitter, he will lean towards whichever side has the stronger wind.

But the vision of a fence-sitter is definitely not bad.

"Okay!" Liu Daogui slapped his thigh. It didn't matter even if he offered double the interest.

The money can be paid back slowly, and if this business territory is opened up, it will be very profitable and bring in a lot of money.

Marriage alliances are originally about two families supporting each other.

"There's no time to lose. Let's go back to the city now to get the money to buy a boat in Guangling. I'll send someone to contact Liu Muzhi."

"So urgent?"

“Everything is urgent, and we cannot help but be anxious.”

It is now the end of March and May is coming soon. Yandu is about to take action.

Cao Ji kept his word and took out 15,000 strings of cash that very day.

Half of it was Shen Lang's money, which was popular in Jiangzuo, and the other half was gold and silver.

The Two Jin Dynasties were among the few dynasties in history that did not mint coins. The Sima family was jointly established by the gentry and had no military power or the right to mint coins.

For their own selfish interests, the aristocratic families competed to mint their own coins to plunder the people, and there were many kinds of bad and inferior coins circulating in the market.

Shenlang coins were private coins minted by Shen Chong. In the first year of Yongchang (322), Wang Dun submitted a petition to attack Liu Wei. Shen Chong, who was born in the Wuxing Shen family, recruited people to respond and was appointed as the commander-in-chief by Wang Dun to command the military of Eastern Wu.

Later, Wang Dun rebelled and died of illness halfway through. Shen Chong remained loyal to Wang Dun, so he led his troops to attack Jiangning and refused the court's offer of amnesty. He was later defeated by Su Jun.

After all, Shen Chong was a wealthy family in Jiangzuo, and he was concerned about his reputation. The small five-zhu coins he minted were treasured by the people because of their good quality.

The money made by the aristocratic families would rot within a few years, so they had no intention of making it again.

Shenlang coins are still used among the people today...

(End of this chapter)