Aspirations for Nation and Beauty: Chapter 104 Chaos! chaos! chaos! (two)
"That's not necessarily the case. I think that some parts of the empire are also booming, but it's too far away from our imperial capital, so it's inconvenient. If it weren't for that, I would have gone there a long time ago." The rat-bearded merchant Some disagreed with the other party's opinion, and waved the satin-covered folding fan again, "Look at Guanxi, look at Tiannan, and then look at Myanmar, mother, the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River really have good noses, swarming into Tiannan And Kansai, now rushing into Burma like a hungry dog, I am afraid that only the west of the entire empire is still at peace. changed."
"Well, that's true. Don't you look at who is in charge in the west? There is Baishenggong, the king, sitting there, and anyone who wants to make trouble will not be able to please. It doesn't matter whether it is Kaman Butcher, Ma Qi Be it the Khan Devil or the God of Plague of the Taiping Sect, who hasn’t capsized under his hands? Now those merchants from the Northwest come to the imperial capital, and they are all proud and proud. What's the matter here? Look at that aura, it seems to be superior to others, and it makes the merchants from other regions jealous." The yellow-faced merchant looked envious, but lowered his voice, "I heard that Li Wufeng, Mr. Li, has always been very kind to merchants. Be lenient, a businessman can be an official even if he is a businessman, and he also sent a letter to officials in other regions asking them to protect the businessmen in the Northwest. When those Northwest businessmen went out, they all carried a letter issued by the Northwest Economic Development Agency to request all parts of the empire to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Northwest businessmen. , the point is to be thoughtful, whether it is useful or not, it is always a thought."
"How can it be useless? A friend of mine from the Northwest is an Indian immigrant. He went from the Northwest to his Indian hometown to discuss business. To make things difficult and extort, he immediately took out this thing, and threatened to go to the local diplomatic official, and at that time the official was too scared to speak, and he was busy giving convenience, which is a clear proof." The mouse-bearded man immediately gave an example, "This It has really grown the prestige of our empire."
"Hmph, that's not the prestige of the Chang Empire, it's the prestige of the Changxi Northwest. I haven't heard what Master Li is called in India? Invincible Army God! The Tik people were beaten to death by the Northwest Army, Originally Master Li had been staying in Kansai, but those Tik people were far-fetched and insisted that Master Li led the army in person, obviously trying to cover up his defeat. From this, it can also be known that Master Li was in Indiana How can those local officials not be afraid? If it really caused trouble, can he afford it?" The yellow-faced businessman said leisurely, "However, some time ago, the Northwest Army also suffered a loss and was expelled from Pinglu by the Butcher Kaman. After I came out, I heard that the sky was dark and the sun and the moon were dark, but this made Kaman Butcher even more arrogant, otherwise why would he occupy Black Mountain and Longquan again?"
"Hey, don't worry about the Kamans. Anyway, the empire still has hundreds of thousands of troops guarding the west. It is impossible for the Kamans to come to the imperial capital for a while. What we need to consider now is business. If we don't do more Pen, we really want to drink the northwest wind. I got the news that the indigo production in Tianshui and Longdong has basically resumed. I heard that the production of safflower cakes is still expanding, and those production workshops have already ramped up their capacity. In production. Now the situation in Heshuo is in chaos, so I dare not go there, or we will go down to Jincheng from Huanggang, and then go around Hanzhong. Shuo’s supply of goods is cut off, so the price will have to go up, so we’ll just add the freight to the cost at most, maybe we can earn two more.” The rat-whisker merchant finally turned the topic back to the topic, no matter how much he talked about state affairs, it was nothing Ethereal, but supporting a family is the most realistic. If you don't do business and have no money to make, then you will really starve to death.
"Oh? Where did you get the news? The Taiping Army in Tianshui has just retreated and resumed production so soon? Is it reliable? If not, I would rather go to Yushan and hear about the situation there They have basically returned to calm, and the Machihan people have not acted excessively. Recently, cinnabar and bluestone are very popular in the imperial capital. If you can’t get indigo and safflower cake, it would be good to get some cinnabar and bluestone.” The yellow-faced businessman said a little Asked in surprise, he didn't expect his business partner to have such well-informed news.
"Hey, it's guaranteed to be fine. I heard this in Shuiyue Tower. Last night, I happened to meet a friend who came from Tianshui. He came to the capital to buy goods. I asked Longdong and As for the situation in Tianshui, he said that the Taiping Army failed to enter the city, Tianshui had little impact, and the food supply there was sufficient, so production resumed quickly, but it had to detour to Jincheng." The rat-bearded merchant was a little embarrassed had to answer.
While two dye merchants were arguing about their business, several people in the private room on the third floor above their heads were also pacing anxiously, as if waiting for someone.
"Why don't you come? Didn't you agree on this time?" The middle-aged man in his thirties picked up his teacup and put it down impatiently.
"Third brother, don't be fraught. If you want to get things done, you have to be patient. Although the imperial capital is chaotic, the people in the internal affairs department are still very conscientious, and the other party doesn't want the internal affairs department to find out. We had no choice but to make this decision, and to be honest, I have no idea." The middle-aged man sitting beside him had shining eyes and protruding temples, but his face was calm and composed, with a certain air of a gentleman. .
"Hmph, that can't be our fault. Since His Majesty has given the Du family the route to Luyang and Pengcheng, it is obvious that he doesn't regard our boat gang as his own family, so why should we work for him anymore? ? Just relying on the waterway from Jinzhong to the imperial capital, the water is so shallow that even large boats can’t move, so how can we still support people?” Another young man said angrily, “Now more and more people come from the hometown of the brothers in the gang. More and more, they are all poor people who can’t afford to eat, don’t accept it, it’s unreasonable because of emotion and reason, accept it, now our boat gang can’t even support ourselves, how can we accept it?”
The middle-aged man sitting on the side didn't respond, but he was carefully evaluating what this meeting would bring to the boat gang. From Jinzhong via the imperial capital to Luyang, if the waterway business to Pengcheng and even Jinling can also be partly brought in, then the life of the ship gang will be much better, even though many children from their hometowns come to work because of the severe drought. I can accept it casually, but I didn't expect that His Royal Highness would abandon his group and hand over the water transportation concession from Luyang to Jinling via Pengcheng to Donghai Du's family. This is an insult. Working so hard for him ended up like this, Liang Cheng couldn't stand it anymore, and even if he endured it, the gang accepted so many children from their hometown in Jinzhong, the business not only didn't expand, but shrank instead, how could such a day Can you survive?
Now that there is no hope for the water transport business in the east, the boat gangs that rely on the waterway of the Fanjiang River can only develop towards the upper reaches of the Fanjiang River, but the Heshuo area in the upper reaches is in chaos. It might not be easy to gain a foothold in Hejian and Tianshui, so he thought of finding another backer. Heshuo is already in chaos, and it is obviously impossible for the Taiping Sect to maintain its rule here for a long time, especially in this year of famine everywhere, it is even more impossible for the Taiping Sect to sit firmly in this area . The Kaman people don't even seem to have much interest in Longquan and Montenegro, otherwise they wouldn't take such extreme measures. Although the Chuan Gang is a Jianghu gang, it is impossible to seek refuge with a foreign race, and the only hope is the west.
Seeing his elder brother lost in thought, several people standing aside fell silent for a while~IndoMTL.com~ dare not disturb his elder brother's train of thought, it is not easy for the ship gang to get to where it is today, and make a The choice also needs to be cautious, especially this kind of choice that will determine the fate of the entire gang needs to be thought twice.
"Brother, what if the other party agrees to us today? What about the alliance? I'm afraid the sunset faction will notice the anomaly soon, and Fu Jian won't just sit idly by." Another thin middle-aged man sat in the corner While smoking a pipe, he opened his mouth.
"Second brother, why do you care about that broken alliance? Damn it, he has the support of His Royal Highness from the Sunset faction. He is popular and spicy. How much benefit has it brought to our ship gang, except for working for it for nothing, I don’t think this Rao Shizi alliance is of much help to our ship gang, so brothers can’t even have food and have to wave the flag for them, right?” The young man He gritted his teeth angrily.
"You can't say that. His Majesty is very powerful now, and he also has this advantage in Jiangnan. I can't guarantee that the current emperor will have to be replaced by him. Let's go to the end of the road. Once the sky changes, then we can do it There is really no way out." The middle-aged man called Second Brother said with a gloomy face and a puff of smoke rings.
"Whoever is the emperor, the more than a thousand brothers in our ship gang have to beg for life. Now His Highness is clearly sacrificing the interests of our ship gang to please the Du family in the East China Sea. You can't let the brothers starve to death, can you?" Another The young man also said.
"The fourth brother is right. We have so many brothers who want to live. His Highness is doing this because he is sorry for us first. Then don't blame us for finding another high-ranking branch. He wants to please the Du family, so let him Go please and see how much the Du family can bring him, and our boat gang will part ways with him!" Another young man said in a low voice.