The large group of businessmen brought back by Luo Wentian were actually admired by themselves.

Not long ago, in many prefectures and counties around Luliang Mountain, Lou Fu iron and iron pots had appeared, a small number of which were scattered by Luo Wentian, and most of them were sold by some small traders from the blacksmith shops in Jingle and Lan County

So, the traders in the nearby prefectures and counties heard the wind and inquired around, and after learning that these iron materials and iron pots were from Lou Fu, they coveted these iron materials and iron pots that were no less in quality than Guangzhou Railway and cheaper than Guangzhou Railway, but they did not dare to buy them in Lou Fu by themselves.

It wasn't until they heard the name Luo Wentian and learned that this handsome and dashing agent had just returned from Siyan City in Pingyang Prefecture, that they rushed to Wenshui County to wait for this fragrant dumpling.

Luo Wentian actually went to buy salt, Luliang Mountain does not produce salt, and the salt copied from various large households before could not be supported for long, and there happened to be a salt lake in the southwest of Shanxi, so he went south to Siyancheng to find a salt merchant with salt, and brought some iron materials and iron pots by the way.

Originally, he just wanted to find a salt merchant, but he didn't expect the officials of Si Yancheng to take the initiative to find him, bought all the three-foot iron pots he had in hand, and asked him to help make the big iron pots, at least three feet large, the bigger the better, and the more the quantity, the better.

Because the local salt field lacks a large iron pot for boiling salt, it used to be bought from Guangdong for thousands of miles, and then the flow of people was everywhere, and the business route to the south was simply impassable, and the salt field was rotten a lot of iron pots, and the output has been greatly reduced in recent months, and there is no iron pot available.

As long as there is a pot, the officials of Si Yancheng can give Lou Fu Yan a citation, and the number of citations will be determined according to the number of iron pots.

Luo Wentian readily agreed, this was purely an accident, he took salt from the officialdom, and the price was much cheaper than buying salt from a salt merchant.

What's more, most of the salt merchants in Shanxi have an unclear relationship with Zhangjiakou Fort, and Lord Qin said that he will not do business with those people unless he is forced to do so.

In Siyancheng, he also met a salt merchant from Xi'an Prefecture, a big salt merchant who specialized in selling salt from Siyancheng to the Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi, and was very interested in the iron materials and iron pots in his hands.

After hearing that the output of Lou Fu iron materials and iron pots was very large, the big salt merchant became more interested, and proposed to go to Lou Fu with Luo Wentian on the spot.

So, Luo Wentian took this big salt merchant with more than 800 caravan guards to return to Lou Fu, and when he passed through Wenshui County, he brought more than a dozen large and small traders, a total of more than 2,000 people, and it was mighty.

Back in Lou Nu, they were not even allowed to enter the town, so they were isolated, and their residence and surroundings were sprinkled with lime powder, which made them overwhelmed for a while.

The next day, Qin Chuan came with a red-clothed attendant and was five steps away from the big salt merchant to discuss the transaction.

The big salt merchant's surname was Wang, his name was Wang Helun, and although he was very unhappy and neglected, he still endured his anger and negotiated the deal.

Qin Chuan doesn't want silver, just food.

The vassal kings of the Guanzhong Plain are everywhere, there are many county kings like dogs, and there are even more meritorious nobles from the gentry and big families.

Qin Chuan didn't mind earning their food, anyway, those hanging hairs wouldn't take the grain out to help the victims, so it was better to put it in his own hands and take it in to take in the hungry.

Wang Helun agreed to exchange grain, but on one condition, Qin Chuan had to help take the freight to the Mokou ferry on the border between Shanxi and Shaanxi, and the two sides traded there.

Because he has a fleet, now the army is in chaos, the land trade route is not open at all, he also does most of the trade by water transport, after the Mokou ferry transaction, his fleet can go south along the Yellow River, to Tongguan and then turn into the Wei River, and then enter the Guanzhong Plain.

Of course, he can raise the price by one percent, after all, it is a 350-mile road from Lou Fu to Mokou Ferry, and this section of the road can only be transported by land, and the freight cost is expensive.

For the sake of food, Qin Chuan agreed.

After negotiating with Wang Helun, Qin Chuan went back directly, and none of the other traders were seen, and they were not allowed to enter the Black Mountain, only let the iron materials and iron pots be transported out, and let Luo Wentian talk to them.

Qin Chuan explained to Luo Wentian that no matter how big the other party's business is, the traders in Shanxi will control the amount of purchases, and can only buy one batch of goods every month, each batch of iron material shall not exceed 10,000 catties, and the iron pot shall not exceed 200.

In addition, Qin Chuan also asked Luo Wentian to pick out some small traders from them, give them some sweets to eat, and let them help inquire about the information of nearby states and counties, including the activities of the Great Jin merchants, the transfer of officers and soldiers, and folk anecdotes.

After explaining clearly, Qin Chuan went to Montenegro and asked Yan Sanqi to expand the production of the iron yard and the pot factory, doubling the output, and recruiting as many workers as he needed.

At the same time, it is also necessary to adjust the industrial structure, and the iron materials in Montenegro are used to make iron pots, steel bars, and rails, and also to provide raw materials for the gun factories and gun factories, and all the iron materials from the Hongli Mountain Mine are used for sales.

……

Wang Helun and the other traders stayed for only two days before they went back to prepare food.

Jingle and Lanxian are also starting to get busy, and it's time for the autumn harvest.

All water and road works were stopped, and all labor was put into the autumn harvest.

Early in the morning, Qin Chuan appeared in the potato field by the Fen River with Wang Jizong, Wencheng and others.

Qin Chuan rolled up his sleeves, bent down, grabbed a potato stalk, and slowly pulled it up.

As the soil turned up, a clump of egg-sized potatoes was pulled up.

Qin Chuan shook off part of the soil and counted it, there were four potatoes on the rhizome, and one fell from the mud.

"My lord, this year's harvest is good, and this land should be able to produce more than five stones."

Wang Jizong led a group of officials from the household administration department to pull out dozens of plants one after another, and after seeing that there were basically more than three potatoes, he couldn't help but be excited.

"Well, that's good."

Qin Chuan also nodded with satisfaction.

"Let's go, let's take a look at Yumai."

"Okay."

The group headed for a field of corn not far away.

The corn cob of this era was very small, only half the size of the large northern corn cob of later generations, and the particles were much smaller, flat and small.

Even so, Wang Jizong was still overjoyed, ran over with a bunch of corn cobs, and said to this Qin Chuan: "My lord, this harvest is better than those planted by his subordinates in previous years, and it should be able to harvest more than three stones per mu." ”

"Well, yes, yes."

Qin Chuan nodded, and roughly calculated, it was only about 300 catties, and the yield of corn per mu in later generations was about 1,000 catties.

These corn yields are one-third of what later generations will produce, and they are really good.

"Ming Zhao, what do you think caused the yield of these jade wheat, which is higher than the ones you planted before?"

"The subordinates thought that it should benefit from the dung pill of Xu Ge Lao."

"Hmm."

Qin Chuan nodded again, he remembered that in later generations, there was a chemical fertilizer called potassium fertilizer, and rural people would use feces, chicken feathers, duck feathers, fish scales, fish offal, etc. to throw them into the soil pit for fermentation, and they would get home-made potassium fertilizer.

Xu Guangqi's dung pill should also be regarded as a kind of potassium fertilizer.

Thinking of this, Qin Chuan patted Wang Jizong's shoulder and said, "Mingzhao, you and your colleagues in the Department of Household Affairs work harder to promote dung pills in Jingle and Lan County, teach the people to make dung pills, and increase the overall grain output." ”

"Yes, my subordinates will live up to the expectations of adults."

……

When the autumn harvest was still going on, Qin Chuan began to adjust the garrison, requisitioning Li Dingliang and Liu Youzhu, preparing to take these two men and their battalions out on the expedition.

Luo Daniu and Ren Liang took over their garrison tasks, and all the soldiers who went out before also stayed.

Qin Chuan let Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi enter the lecture hall, let Li Dingguo stay and take care of them, and soon took them around to see the peace and contentment of the people of Jingle and Lan County, and see this troubled paradise.

Time can change anyone, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi are still young, one is the same year as Li Dingguo, one year younger, but only thirteen or fourteen years old, his heart is undecided, he can still be transformed, and he will be used by Qin Chuan in two years.

……

On the eve of the expedition, Qin Chuan gave Lao Huang a lively wedding wine.

The old fellow picked a widow who was not yet thirty years old and dragged two babies in tow.

The two babies not only followed his surname, but also changed their names by him, one was called Huang Da and the other was Huang Er.

He said: I should not be able to give birth at this age, and there will be two babies for me to retire in the future and pass on the ancestry.

When he heard these two names, Qin Chuan couldn't help but kick him, and then changed the names of the two babies, the big one was called Huang Bo, and the small one was called Huang Qiusheng because his mother was born on a barren mountain when she was a hungry person.

Lao Huang read it, and felt that these two names were very smooth, and immediately smiled.

On the second day of the wedding wine, Qin Chuan set out on an expedition.

Fifteen hundred troops, one man and one horseman, five hundred pack horses, twenty grain carts, and forty forage wagons, for a total of 15 days of grain and grass.

This time, he is going to help the imperial court recover Leping County.

Lou Fu is not far from Leping County, only 400 miles away, the road is not difficult, walk for six or seven days.