Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1052 Guazhou Market
After Sun Kewang was defeated and surrendered to Jin Kingdom last year, he stayed in Xi'an for less than a month before being expelled to Hexi.

Counting the time, it is now November, and Sun Kewang has been in Guazhou for a year.

At this time, through his efforts, he strengthened the management of the various tribes in Hexi, and strictly prohibited private fighting among tribes and robbing caravans along the way, making the Hexi trade road smooth and the place peaceful. Willing to come to the market in exchange for goods.

The Western Regions in the west, Mongolia in the north, and Uzang in the south are relatively backward areas compared to the Central Plains, and many necessities of life need to be obtained from the Central Plains.

Herdsmen need tea, salt, iron pots, and clay pots. These things are not produced in the grasslands. When the Central Plains is weak, they will grab them. When the Central Plains is strong, they can only buy them honestly.

Strictly speaking, Sun Kewang’s bazaar in Guazhou is not aimed at Mongolians and snowy areas. Guazhou is the center of the Hexi Corridor, west of Jiayuguan, where Mongolians and Tibetans rarely come in.Guazhou is like a base for distribution and distribution of materials. Merchants in Guanzhong transport the materials here, and then merchants in Hami and Dunhuang purchase them here, and then transport them back to Mongolia or the snowy area to barter with the locals. They exchange for them. The furs, cattle and sheep, and horses were transported back to Guazhou, and they were exchanged with Guanzhong merchants for more Central Plains materials.

At this time, the inside and outside of Guazhou was extremely lively. Since the opening of the market, camel caravans have come to Guazhou every day, bringing together a large amount of goods and materials, and the business is extremely prosperous. The population of Guazhou has grown to 10, and the city is called Jiayuguan. The largest commercial city in the west.

There are two big markets in the city. According to their locations, they are called Dongshi and Xishi respectively. The Dongshi is mainly businessmen from Guanzhong who set up shops and stalls here. , Tibetan and Muslim caravans.

Since winter has already entered, the mountains will soon be blocked by heavy snow, and the roads will become difficult to walk. Therefore, in mid-November, both the east and west markets will be closed for more than two months, and they will not reopen until the beginning of spring.

Hesitation is the last few days, so the city of Guazhou is bustling with people, caravans of various ethnic groups and nearby people rush to buy a batch of winter goods before the market closes.

At noon that day, Sun Kewang put on a little make-up, wore a dark blue Taoist uniform and a net scarf, and accompanied a Confucian scholar.

In this era, the status of a scholar is always higher. Everyone hopes that he is a high scholar who applies for poetry and books, and Sun Kewang is no exception. Whenever he disguises himself, he is the first to want to be a scholar, but he is tall and strong, and he has been there for many years. The battle made his skin darker and rough, and he is not a scholar at all. His attire actually looks a bit nondescript, but he doesn't realize it.

Sun Kewang led his general Zhang Sheng to walk in front, and more than ten guards followed them, walking on the street.

This time, he mainly wanted to see how the goods shipped from Guanzhong were sold in Guazhou.

The failure of Daxi Kingdom caused Sun Kewang to reflect on whether there was a big problem with his fierce attitude towards gentry and landlords.This time he managed Hexi, although he still suppressed many big forces in Hexi by force, and then continued to give advantages to ordinary people and buy people's hearts, but he also paid attention to building a good relationship with the gentry in Guanzhong as much as possible.

The Kingdom of Jin's control over Hexi was originally only in name. After he came, he strengthened his control over Hexi, allowing the Kingdom of Jin to truly control Hexi, and allowed the goods in Guanzhong to be sold here.

If the materials in Guanzhong can be sold, the impression of the gentry and merchants in Guanzhong will change, and he will be able to gain a firm foothold in the Kingdom of Jin.

When he came to the street, Sun Kewang watched as he walked. The shops along the street were crowded with businessmen of various ethnicities who came to buy goods.

He stood in front of a stall selling clay pots, and saw that the stall owner was negotiating with a Mongolian, and there was a special person in charge of translation. It seemed that a sheep was exchanged for fifteen pottery bowls, and the Mongolian had to exchange a total of two hundred. clay bowls and ten clay pots.

Sun Kewang was a little startled when he heard this. A pottery bowl in the Central Plains costs only forty or fifty renminbi, but here fifteen of them can be exchanged for a sheep.

Just as he was surprised, he wondered in his heart that it was no wonder that guy Wang Yan wanted to promote commerce. The benefits brought by this trade were really much better than farming and digging.

Sun Kewang continued to walk forward. There was a tea shop in front of him. It was the family business of Meng Qiaofang, the king of Yongping. The shop was much larger than the others, occupying four shops.

Tea is a must for Mongolians and snowy regions. It can be said to be a huge profit industry. The crude tea and tea dregs in the south are sold on the grassland after being pressed into cakes. More than 100 catties of tea can be exchanged for a war horse.

At this time, the tea shop was very lively. There were more than a dozen wooden barrels in the shop, and wooden signs were hung on them. The names of various teas were written on them with charcoal. The origins are different, the quality is different, and the price is also different. There will be a difference.

Just as Sun Kewang walked to the shop, there was a sound from inside.

"This guest, our tea shop can't accept this paper money!"

"We all use this over there, it's easy to carry, you don't accept it here?"

"This is a bank note from the south. It is not easy to exchange it after we have taken it. See if you can settle it with cash."

When Sun Kewang heard the sound, he squeezed in with Zhang Sheng to have a look. He saw a big man holding the Wude ticket of the Ming Dynasty and negotiating with a shopkeeper.

According to the big man's words, he should be a Han, but looking at his attire, he is completely dressed as a Tibetan, and he should be a Huhua Han from Qinghai.

The Wude Tickets of the Ming Dynasty are really easy to use, but this is the Kingdom of Jin. Even if the reputation of the Wude is good, the merchants here will not accept it, because it is a piece of paper after all, and the merchants of the Kingdom of Jin have no channels to prove it. North Korea converts it into cash, so many shops will not accept it.

Sun Kewang was a little surprised, but at the same time, he was a little wary. How did the banknotes from the Ming Dynasty come to Guazhou?And it sounds like many people in the Qinghai area have already accepted the Wude vote.

"Brother, how did you get the paper money from the south?" Sun Kewang walked up to the two of them and asked suddenly.

Seeing that a person came suddenly to ask each other, the man turned his head to look at Sun Kewang, but there was a hint of vigilance on his face, unwilling to explain.

Sun Kewang smiled slightly when he saw this, and then said: "Brother, I don't know. My family also has such bank notes, but they can't use them in Dajin. I just heard you say that you all use this kind of paper money, so I want to ask. See if you can find someone to exchange for silver."

Hearing what Sun Kewang said, the man's eyes showed a hint of cunning, and he rolled his eyes before he said: "Ming Dynasty merchants used this kind of banknotes to trade with us in Wusizang and the south of Qinghai Lake. We only need to use this kind of banknotes If you go to the border market established by the Ming Dynasty on the border of Sichuan, you can directly buy goods from the Ming Dynasty, which is much more convenient than bringing iron money and silver, so we all accept this kind of paper money.”

He paused for a while, then smiled slyly: "If you have this kind of banknote, it will be troublesome to go to our place, why don't you give me your banknote, and I will exchange it for silver for you." Glancing at Sun Kewang, he continued, "However, if I exchange it for you, it cannot be exchanged for the real amount."

Hearing this, Sun Kewang already understood that He Tengjiao probably opened a border market in Sichuan and began to trade with Qinghai and Uzang. In this way, his border market in Hexi might be affected.

"I'm sorry, I want to exchange this paper money, but I didn't keep it with me, but at home in Guanzhong. I'm afraid I won't be able to get it this year." Hearing this, the big man seemed a little disappointed, nodded silently, and then Talked to Sun Kewang again, but untied a small wooden box from his waist, opened it, took out a handful of silver coins, counted them, put a few back into the money box, and said to the shopkeeper, "Paper money in the south is not accepted. There should be no problem with this silver coin!"

Sun Kewang was about to leave, but when he saw him take out a handful of silver coins and some copper coins and copper coins, he couldn't help but stop and asked Zhang Sheng to exchange the broken silver coins for a set of Ming Dynasty silver coins and copper coins.

Sun Kewang took the money to watch as he walked, and it was as beautiful as the western coins, with patterns and words printed on them.These coins were issued by the Wudehao authorized by the imperial court and casted by hydraulic stamping machines. They are currently divided into one or two silver coins, large copper coins equivalent to one hundred Wen, and small copper coins equivalent to ten Wen.

Sun Kewang took a look at the silver coin with a sun and moon pattern printed on the front, "one or two" printed on the back, and "minted in three years of co-government". Suddenly his face changed, and he handed it to Zhang Sheng beside him. , asked: "How much silver do you think it contains?"

Zhang Shengwen looked at it and replied, "I'm afraid it's only [-]% to [-]%!"

Sun Kewang's heart fluttered, and he couldn't help sighing, "That guy Wang Yan is really amazing!"

He operates in Hexi, so it can be said that he borrowed Wang Yan’s experience in developing business, but Wang Yan went to the sea, and he moved Wang Yan’s experience to the land, but he has not yet learned the degree, and the Ming Dynasty made a new one. Something is coming.

Sun Kewang's heart was a little shaken, and at this moment, he had already arrived at a mule and horse shop in the West Market. As soon as he walked to the door, a strong smell hit his face.

As soon as Sun Kewang was suffocated by the smell, he was about to quicken his pace and leave, but at this moment, a majestic neighing sound of a horse came out from the mule and horse stable.

(End of this chapter)