Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 127 Business
If there were no thieves, there would be no point in Liu Daogui's trip.

The eight villages are now back on track, and the residents have gone into the mountains to chop wood, hunt, and store various supplies for the winter.

The sea ship moved from Guangling to Langya. Liu Muzhi did what he said and recruited more than 400 sailors to go fishing with Li Damu. The catch was divided into 30% and 70% respectively.

The salted fish and kelp that cannot be eaten will be dried and stored.

Cao Sifei gathered the women and children from eight buildings together to raise silkworms and weave cloth. The scale was not large, but it allowed the women and children to have two meals a day.

Overall, the eight buildings are still at the stage of self-sufficiency and can barely support themselves.

It is not easy to achieve this in this world.

In the midst of the busyness, Liu Muzhi rode his horse to the city with more than 20 followers.

When Liu Daogui saw that he looked exhausted, he knew something was wrong, so he asked Liu Zun and Meng Ganzhi to guard outside.

After the previous incident with Dai Qizhi, the two sides were already very familiar with each other, like people on the same boat, so they skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. "Do you know that Emperor Wu of Han set up an iron official in Langya?"

"Iron Official?" Liu Daogui's expression changed, and he knew what Liu Muzhi was here for.

The Han Dynasty nationalized salt and iron, set up iron officials, and centralized management and production.

This gave rise to more than one hundred salt fields in Yandu.

The salt field in Yandu has been destroyed and it is basically impossible to repair it in a short period of time. The war clouds are looming in Jiangzuo and no one can take care of Yandu.

But there are always people who want to do business. If there is no light in the south, there will be light in the north.

Langya County is also close to the sea, and its port leads directly to Wa, Baekje, and Goguryeo.

Liu Muzhi said, "I plan to restore the salt fields and sell salt to the Central Plains and Hebei. What do you think?"

Liu Daogui slapped his thigh. He was thinking about killing and arson all day long, and was scheming against those monsters in the military office, which limited his vision.

I didn't even think about such a big deal.

Fortunately, I met Liu Muzhi, otherwise the loss would be huge...

"Great kindness, I am willing to lend a helping hand to Brother Liu."

The more war there is, the greater the demand for salt.

The northern country is mostly populated by Hu people, and their war horses, cattle and sheep all need salt. Langya is close to the sea in the east and there are mountains in the north and west. If you want to transport salt out, you must pass through Lanling.

Lanling is adjacent to Huan Gong Du and is surrounded by important towns such as Xia Pi, Pengcheng, and Peicheng. It has convenient transportation and a unique geographical location.

Liu Muzhi said: "How about the salt profits, Langya gets four and Lanling gets six?"

"We are family, so we should keep our differences. We should split it in half." Liu Daogui valued him as a person more.

"I knew he was a man who valued friendship and loyalty, but the division should be done as it should be. Besides, rebuilding the saltworks requires investment."

After a long time, it turned out that Liu Muzhi came to borrow money.

This also means that he knows who was responsible for the attack on Yandu. This kind of thing cannot be hidden from a smart and scheming person. Even Yuan He has always suspected himself...

Liu Daogui understood tacitly, "How much do you need?"

Why not do this kind of win-win thing?
"I made a rough estimate these days, at least 250,000 strings of cash..." Liu Muzhi actually dared to speak.

"Brother Liu thinks too highly of me." Liu Daogui gave a wry smile. Two hundred and fifty thousand strings of cash... even if he counted up all his belongings, he wouldn't be able to come up with that even if he sold everything he had...

As expected, a big business like salt and iron is not something that a small person can handle.

Making salt is not as simple as drying the seawater. First, wood ash must be added to the salt pond to obtain brine, which is then filtered, boiled, and purified through other processes, which is complicated and tedious.

Wood ash, firewood, brine, manpower, and various iron tools needed to make salt, every step costs money... otherwise salt wouldn't be so expensive these days.

"Don't be impatient when it comes to the truth." Liu Muzhi took out a piece of Saeki paper from his arms. It was covered with various numbers. It turned out that he had made a plan long ago.

"The construction period is too long. I plan to complete it in three years. Next year, I will invest 70,000 coins to rebuild nine salt fields. After the salt is produced, I will sell it and make money. With the income, I will gradually rebuild other salt fields, making Langya the largest salt field north of the Huai River..."

Liu Muzhi pointed to the numbers on the paper and explained them one by one. His logic was clear and his ideas were very specific.

Liu Daogui could indeed come up with 70,000 strings of cash, but it was of no use piling the money up in Qingguang Village, and it would easily rust if left for too long, so it would be better to invest it.

The most profitable businesses these days are salt, iron and people.

If it were someone else, Liu Daogui would have to think twice, but if it were Liu Muzhi, there would be no need to doubt at all and he could just invest the money.

"Give me five days, and I'll definitely send the money to Kaiyang!"

Liu Daogui was reluctant to take out 70,000 strings of cash at once, which basically emptied his family's belongings. After much deliberation, he decided to ask his brother-in-law Cao Ji to join him.

The illegal salt business is such a big piece of fat meat that I can’t eat it all in one bite.

The Cao and Liu families are both family members...

"Langya is located on the border and the people are poor and destitute. If the salt field can be built, the people will be able to have a bowl of hot rice, and Taoism will have immeasurable merits." Liu Muzhi was full of emotion.

Liu Daogui was in awe. He didn't expect that he was not doing this for himself, but for the people of Langya. There are not many people like him these days.

On the Jiangzuo official road, from top to bottom, who was not desperately hugging himself in his arms?
How many people care about how the people below live?

"Don't worry, Brother Liu, this will be accomplished!" Liu Daogui racked his brains to make money, essentially for the eight buildings under his rule. He didn't spend much on a daily basis and had little interest in a life of drunkenness and debauchery.

The private salt business cannot fail as long as the right time, place and people are all in place.

After seeing Liu Muzhi off, he went to find Cao Ji to discuss borrowing money, but was stopped by a group of old soldiers from the Northern Palace on the way.

"I wonder when the army will take us into the mountains to suppress the bandits?"

We made a lot of money last year by suppressing bandits, and we wanted to make another fortune this year.

However, these people spend their money lavishly, either gambling or living a life of luxury, spending it all. This year, the Yangtze and Huaihe River regions suffered a disaster, and the harvests from the fields decreased, making them extremely poor.

The bandits in Mount Nichu have already fled far away, unless they run to the even farther Mount Meng and Mount Tai. However, the bandits there may number several thousand and have the advantage of time and place, so they are not something that the four or five hundred of them can deal with.

"There are no bandits in the nearby mountains. How about letting me think about this matter?" Liu Daogui told the truth.

The old soldier in charge, Fu Shanzi, quickly said, "There are no bandits in the mountains, but they are everywhere below. Lanling is on the border. The worst that can happen is we can invade enemy territory. They rob us every year, so why can't we rob them?"

When these words were spoken, the old soldiers' eyes lit up.

"Yes, why can they rob us but we can't rob them?"

"That doesn't make sense!"

Liu Daogui was stunned. This guy is really a talented person.

They are all robbing, so why bother about bandits and foreigners?
The Hu people were richer, occupied Han lands, enslaved the northern Jin people, and had herds of cattle and horses, as well as numerous wives and concubines...

People are not rich without windfall, and horses are neither night nor fat.

After two years of diligent farming, I could barely make ends meet.

Fu Shanzi bowed and said, "When I followed Commander Xie in the Northern Expedition, I was a scout. I have been to Yanzhou and Qingzhou and am familiar with the routes. I only need to join the army and give the order!"

"My wife and children at home are crying from hunger and cold. I hope the soldiers will be lenient with them..." The old soldiers looked at Liu Daogui pitifully.

(End of this chapter)