The river water drawn from the Taizi River surrounds Liaoyang City along the moat, which is still the city defense project that Xiong Tingbi presided over when he was in office, and the morning sun after the snow in winter is sprinkled on the frozen river surface, reflecting a piece of silver light.

Groups of people chiseled ice on both sides of the Taizi River in the distance, ready to pull into the ice cellar in the city, the dignitaries and nobles in the city did not forget to take care of the enjoyment after the summer after the war, making people feel that Jiannu is just a disease of scabies, and the border town of the Ming Dynasty is still a peaceful atmosphere.

Early this morning, Wang Xingping and his entourage stayed outside the urn city of the Qingqing Gate early.

Because of the war, many border Han people have moved here, to travel all the way from Guangyou Temple, the houses and shops have been lined up, and the soldiers and civilians who entered the city in the morning are even more shoulder to shoulder.

Wang Xingping did not choose the Wujing Gate in the north city, but went around the city from the south city to enter the city, it was because of the convenience, the god hangar was clearing the door, and the group quickly found a place to complete the survey after entering the city.

The main warehouse is just south of Dusizhi, and the street is full of merchants from all over the Guannai, tea merchants in Anhui, medicine shops in Sichuan and Shaanxi, cloth shops in Susong, and families hang conspicuous banners at the door with high dragon head wooden poles, probably because they are outside the business, even on Chinese New Year's Eve, there are still sporadic shops open for business, and the heavy quilt hanging at the door to block the cold current outdoors marks that there is no rest on the cabinet today, and the ruts on the snow on the street are witnessing the prosperity of this place on weekdays.

The north entrance of the street is the south gate of Liaodong Dusizhi, the three arches of the square in front of the door stand high, the left is said to be Yangwei, the right is said to be Zhenwu, the stone pillar is carved and the beams are painted, a big archway in the middle is written with the four big characters of 'the whole vast send', a layer of thick snow on the archway seems to put a velvet hat on the cornices on the beam. Just looking at the scene of the street market and the face of the yamen, it is difficult for people to have a sense of wind and rain in Liaodong, Wang Xingping can't help but secretly remind himself in his heart, don't be blinded by this bright surface.

It didn't take much effort, Zhang Guoji found the name of his fellow villager - Cheng Xiangji, and a line of small words under the guise - 'Running the North-South Goods Trade'.

The inconspicuous door face is low-key, the door is not open at the moment, the door is pasted with new peach charms, and the makeup at the corner of the door is also shining, a festive atmosphere.

After a few taps, an old man opened the door, Zhang Guoji became famous, and soon a young man in his thirties greeted him.

"Brother Xiantai, is it really you?" As soon as the man saw Zhang Guoji, he immediately showed excitement and said, "Kaifeng has been separated for a few years, but I didn't expect to meet here." ”

Zhang Guoji was also a little embarrassed, "When I was still in my hometown, I often heard Brother Ling talk about Brother Xian's affairs in Liaodong, and he happened to be on business in Liaoyang recently, so he took the liberty to come to the door." ”

He saw that everyone was still piling up at the door, and hurriedly introduced: "These two are my current owners, and they came to Liaodong to do some commercial goods." ”

"Wang Xingping."

"Fu Xiaofei."

When the two saw Zhang Guoji mention himself, Shi Shiran stepped forward and arched half a step.

"It turned out to be proprietor Wang and proprietor Fu, and they were polite in the next journey." Cheng Dongzhu seemed to suddenly remember something, and hurriedly greeted, "It's freezing this day, come into the house quickly." ”

"Then bother." Seeing this, Zhang Guoji hurriedly greeted him as half a master, and did not introduce the identities of the two family members, as if he felt that the vision of the proprietor of Cheng was not enough to make him talk.

Before coming, Wang Xingping asked about Cheng Xiangwen, and Zhang Guoji got most of the legends, and he heard Cheng Xiangwen's brother mention some of them when he was still in his hometown. Originally, this person came to Liaodong to do business in the early days, and the business did not go well and the capital was broken, so he sent it to a Hui merchant to do some accounting things with people to get by, but two years ago he hit a lot of luck, relying on the savings to buy a batch of cheap medicinal materials, because of the epidemic made a lot of money, and then one after another speculation success, and gradually the business improved.

Judging from the situation told by Zhang Guoji, this Cheng owner likes to speculate, and he is not small, but the most important thing is that he is always qualitative, even if he is broken, he will not complain, but recuperate and wait for opportunities. Such a person has ambition and the ability to act, but he can be investigated, and maybe it will be of help to this intelligence network in Liaodong.

But let's see how it goes.

This entered the house, Cheng Xiangwen was not restrained, and the old wife cleaned up the house together, and served tea to the guests, he was a little embarrassed: "Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, the guys and rough envoys in the store have gone home, and I have no family in Liaoyang, and I forgive me for not greeting me." ”

didn't even bring his family with him, Wang Xingping gave this Cheng proprietor another 'cautious' comment in his heart.

After a few pleasantries, he talked about business.

Cheng Xiangwen is very sensitive to business, and first asked about Wang Xingping and Fu Xiaofei's details, after all, it is not common for businessmen to come to the customs before the year.

"I wonder what the two proprietors want to do when they come to Liaodong this time? If you already have a charter, I can recommend it here. "Cheng Xiangwen is old-fashioned, and he expects that if everyone prepares, he will go all the way to the outside of the border to drink the wind.

Wang Xingping looked at Zhang Guoji, and Zhang Guoji immediately understood, "We have just arrived, and we don't know the market in Liaodong, and we still need to be taught by our virtuous brothers." ”

"Don't dare to give teaching, if you want to talk about the market in Liaodong, it is nothing more than ginseng, mink and Dongzhu."

But Fu Xiaofei didn't seem to be interested in this, "I don't know what the timber market in Liaodong is." ”

"Wood?" Cheng Xiangwen was a little puzzled when he heard it, if you want to say that there are a lot of forests in Liaodong, there are many around Liaoyang City, especially in the upper reaches of the Taizi River. However, the forests in Liaodong are mostly pine and fir trees, and they are not precious tree species. If the construction needs to use more of the southwest and South Sea nanmu, even if the fir and other products used in shipbuilding, the southern coastal land is not nothing.

Seeing that Cheng Xiangwen was puzzled, Fu Xiaofei said, "It's just a valet merchant who inquired, and the merchant named and wanted Liaodong pine." ”

"There are a lot of pine trees, but they are all in the northern woods, and besides, those are not worth a few, it is just a transportation trouble."

"I don't know the price of larch wood here now?" Wang Xingping also asked, because they didn't seem to find a store specializing in bulk timber outside the city. Of course, he just asked, in Liaodong today, the Senate does not occupy the port, and how to transport timber is still a difficult matter, but it will not be wrong to understand the market first.

Cheng Xiangwen thought for a moment and said: "There are many pine trees in the forest in the north, and the local price is extremely cheap, even if it is a big tree with a circumference of four feet, it is only two or three dollars of silver per zhang." ”

"So cheap?"

Fu Xiaofei's words stopped Cheng Xiangwen, Liaodong is vast and sparsely populated, and the most important thing is the ownerless forest, those Han people who fled to build houses outside the city, they all go to logging by themselves, and the government will not care about it at all. In the local timber trafficking, the majority is transportation and storage, and simply cutting down is really a business without a foundation, as long as you are willing to put in the effort.

But for Fu Xiaofei, this is very good news, although this timber has a species, but in terms of price alone, the same fir type is more than four or five times cheaper than in the south, provided that it can be shipped. In this way, if a port is opened in southern Liaoning or along the Yalu River, it can really play a lot of role, and the laying of the railway does need pine wood from Liaodong, so it seems that after returning to make a report to Jeju Island to take action.

After chatting about timber for a while, Cheng Dongzhu will not forget his business, since he came to the customs and foreign merchants, how can there be a reason not to buy some Liao ginseng, but now the origin of Liao ginseng is almost annexed by Nurhachi, so naturally he didn't say a word about this topic and came to Jiannu again.

"It's also a pity that Xiong Xianggong was killed by a traitor, otherwise he would have been able to fight back sooner or later."

"Oh? That's what you think? Wang Xingping said.

"Who doesn't think like this among the people of Liaoyang, last year and August, Jiannu attacked Shenyang, if it weren't for Xiong Xianggong personally supervising the formation, would he be able to defend it with those frightened soldiers? If Jiannu comes again this year, I think it will be enough to choke. ”

Fu Xiaofei is very interested in this, and the news from the people may not be groundless, "Do you think Jiannu will come this year?" ”

"There are rumors in the market, and we in the business know this best, there is always wind and grass."

This made Fu Xiaofei understand, the three armies did not move the grain and grass first, whether it was the official army or the Jiannu, if they wanted to move the troops, they would involve the bulk material transactions in the market, and the process could be analyzed from these phenomena to draw conclusions, it seems that Zhang Guoji said before that this person is good at speculation is not completely lucky.

"By the way, isn't the new Yuan Jingliu a good official? Even if Xiong Xianggong leaves office, it must not be too erosive. Wang Xingping saw the opportunity to throw out another topic.

In the early years, he built more than 40 miles of embankments in Linzhang and Hanoi counties, diverted the water of the Qin River into the Guangji Canal, and was a county in Ze, and his political achievements were crowned in the two rivers, which was quite a means in internal affairs.

Cheng Xiangwen disagreed, and sighed: "Yuan Xianggong is also a good official, but he is not as decisive as Xiong Xianggong, and the court is full of traitors, and I am afraid that it will not be possible." If Xiong Xianggong leads the troops, Princess Yuan Xiangzheng can still take a look, but now, what ......?"

Speaking of this, he was quite melancholy, Wang Xingping naturally understood what Cheng Xiangwen meant, this Yuan Xianggong is too benevolent, and the so-called mercy is not in charge of the army......

This chat, unconsciously arrived at noon, Cheng Xiangwen is a foreigner, even if it is the first day of the first lunar month tomorrow, there are not many doors to go, because there is no need to make other preparations today, and when he saw Zhang Guoji, he insisted on leaving everyone for lunch, and instructed the old family to go to the back kitchen to prepare some cured chicken and duck and some local products, and set up a table of eight immortals. Wang Xingping and Fu Xiaofei did not shirk, but asked the entourage to take out two bottles of wine.

"Since Cheng Dong mainly wants to fulfill the friendship of the landlord, we can't shirk it, so we just brought two bottles of good wine to accompany the meal."

Although few elders like liquor, but since the cold winter in the north came, Fu Xiaofei has gradually discovered the benefits of spirits, and he will indeed feel much warmer when he takes a sip of nothing, so he thought that there would be a market for this thing in Liaodong, so he also brought two boxes in the car.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Xiangwen's eyes lit up when he saw it, and he blurted out: "The countryman is unparalleled? ”

"Does proprietor Cheng recognize this wine?" This time it was replaced by Fu Xiaofei who was surprised, he was in charge of the business of Tianjin Wantong, how much of this wine circulated in Beijing is naturally clear, even if this thing is in demand in Beijing, let alone Liaodong.

Cheng Xiangwen didn't hide it, "I saw it once at a banquet of a wealthy merchant before, this thing is a rare and good thing in Liaodong, and it has no price." ”

"Is it really that sought-after?"

"This is a serious 800 spirit, not only the nobles here like it, but even the Tartars and Koreans are hard to find, not to mention that it is so clear."

This is true, the liquor brewed by modern technology is not comparable today, not to mention the degree of this alcohol, it is even more difficult to make it clear, the folk have the so-called sieve wine, that is, the wine is too turbid, you need to take the sieve first, such as Nanjing's wall Qing and the like, although it is also directly drunk, but compared to this country, it is still worse than a star and a half, not to mention this particularly eye-catching glass bottle.

"I don't know who runs this wine in Liaodong?" Fu Xiaofei asked deliberately.

Cheng Xiangwen said: "They are all brought from the customs, but there is no local area, I heard that there are Australian goods from Nanyang, which are very rare." ”

"So it's a good deal."

"Who said no, it's a pity that there is nowhere to buy." Cheng Xiangwen said regretfully.

Fu Xiaofei said: "What if this deal is handed over to Brother Cheng?" ”

Cheng Xiangwen looked at Fu Xiaofei with some incredulity, but Zhang Guoji hurriedly came out of the round.

"Fu Dongzhu is dealing in Australian goods in Tianjin Wei, and this wine is no problem."

"Really?" Cheng Xiangwen's eyes lit up when he heard this, did he have good luck? But after thinking about such a precious thing, Fu Dongzhu actually sold two bottles, which could not be faked.

Fu Xiaofei struck while the iron was hot, "Australian goods are very sought-after at the moment, and this national warrior is even more rare, but if Brother Cheng is interested, it is not that our name cannot be turned around." ”

"I don't know what the conditions of proprietor Fu are? Please also be clear. ”

"Actually, there are no conditions, as long as Cheng Dongzhu agrees to collect some news for us in Liaodong in the future, why not share this business with you?"

"It's as simple as that?"

"This is not simple, didn't proprietor Cheng say that the three armies did not move the grain and grass first, in the eyes of our merchants, this news is not silver."

Cheng Xiangwen's eyes rolled around, "This is a bad idea, what Fu Dongzhu said is exactly the truth." ”

"Then the proprietor of Cheng can think about this matter, and we will not leave until two more days."

"This is leaving? How many of you have just arrived in Liaoyang, right? Hearing that Fu Xiaofei was going to leave in two days, Cheng Xiangwen hurriedly asked.

Fu Xiaofei didn't hide it, "I just arrived yesterday, but I have to go to Shenyang to have a look next, it's not easy to get out of the customs, so I always have to go to more places." ”

Cheng Xiangwen said with a deep groan, "With all due respect, Shenyang is not very peaceful. ”

"It's not peaceful to have a deal." Fu Xiaofei didn't seem to care.

"Always be careful."

"This is natural, but speaking of which, this time I have to bother the proprietor Cheng to act as a guide."

"Wizard?"

Seeing that Cheng Xiangwen's face was different, Fu Xiaofei immediately made a long story short, "It's not to go to Shenyang, but I want to go to Beicheng after noon, if Cheng Dongzhu is willing to accompany him, it will naturally be the best." ”

"I see, it doesn't hurt."

Cheng Xiangwen showed a relaxed look at this time, and it didn't seem that this was a trouble.

[References]

1, "Daming Huidian"

2, "Records of Emperor Mingshen Zongxian"

3, "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" Fan Shuzhi

4, "Wanli Ye Ed" Shen Defu

5. "The Record of Crimes: The Biography of the Economic Ministers"

6, "History of the Ming Dynasty • The Biography of Xu Guangqi"

7, "The Biography of Erchen"

8. "Ming Dynasty Timber Valuation and Timber Volume Calculation" He Weiguo

9, "A Brief Exploration of Liaoyang Inscriptions in the Ming Dynasty" Li Luhua

10. Analysis of the Plane Structure and Layout of the Main Buildings of Liaoyang City in the Ming Dynasty by Yang Furong and Wang Sa

11, "About the Dongning Wei of Liaoyang in the Ming Dynasty" Yoshihiro Hanoi

12. "Research on Liaoyang Town in the Defense System of Liaodong Town in the Ming Dynasty" Huang Huan

13, "Analysis of Liao Shen in the Ming Dynasty" Song Chengji