Just when Shang Wu and Jia Xu were discussing the resources of the Wuhuan people. A seemingly illegal, but legal trade has quietly emerged in the northern part of the state, in the land of Hexi, and that is the slave trade.

The IRA unconditionally abolished all slave clauses, but the problem was that the law was limited because it targeted Han Chinese, not Han Chinese. Therefore, many people who do business take advantage of the loopholes in the law. They aggressively encouraged the Hun merchants to trade the captured prisoners of war for money.

These prisoners of war were then transported to Hedong, Luzhou, and more to work as coal diggers. It's windfall profits. Moreover, the demand was very large, which was enough to increase the desire to buy prisoners of war. Even women from some northern nomadic tribes are among them. Maybe they have more strength.

Shang Wu believes that the development of an era is inseparable from the support of energy, and the Republican Army's biggest energy dependence on coal at present, so it attaches great importance to the development of coal, but the mining of coal resources is also deepened.

From the beginning of shallow coal mining, to later well mining, and finally to the current use of the most advanced mining method, coal mining has become larger and larger. However, the difficulty and danger level are also increasing.

Coal controlled by the Republican Army, coal mine accidents are frequent. On average, more than 100 coal mine accidents are reported in a month. This is a terrible number, because behind it, there will be a lot of lives filled in.

A major mining accident can cause 100 deaths, although coal mines make money quickly. Because of the great demand, iron works, heating, cooking and so on, all need the energy provided by coal. But mining is also becoming more difficult. The cost is that casualties are also increasing, which is inevitable.

This incident has caused dissatisfaction among many locals, because the deaths are some farmers who have just been liberated from the land and do not have many labor skills, and their death often means that there is no pillar of a family. The amount of compensation was also very large, and initially the number of human lives rose from 20,000 to 150,000. The mine owners who opened the mines, then no longer used the locals, but the displaced people from the original sources, who did not pay much, but then brought more other problems, such as deliberate mining disasters, extortion. Initiating a judicial investigation. Minerals are profiteering. It brings all kinds of troubles.

Therefore, the displaced people have also abandoned it. The reason is very simple, the displaced people can't believe it, and they also understand that it is important to earn money, but there must also be fate. There are many reasons for this, but in short, the cost of using local and displaced people from other areas will also increase, and there will be constant troubles.

It was at this time that a very unexpected example opened everyone's eyes to the opportunity.

Ma Heng was very annoyed with the Hun prisoners of war. Although the War Department ordered the release of this matter. However, Ma Heng, as the head of the army, resolutely opposed this matter, and the local Hedong people did not have a good impression of the Huns, so they left a large number of Xiongnu prisoners of war and sold them to some local coal mines and coke farms, which was dangerous and hard work. They don't have to worry about the life and death of these people at all.

The most important thing is that the cost is very practical, the cost of these northern prisoners of war is very low, they have no human rights, as long as they are fed, they will continue to create wealth. The impact of their death is very small, even if there is a big mining disaster, people believe that this is retribution, deserved, who let them be enemies, for the enemy, they should be like this.

The cost of using prisoners of war was minimized, a lot of trouble was saved, and most importantly, many people who did not want to do it had someone to work.

And the control of these prisoners of war became very simple, sticks, leather whips. Keep beating them, and they'll keep moving forward. That's what businessmen want to see the most.

Under such stimulus, more and more prisoners of war from the north became the key.

The merchants had money, and they could buy a slave at a higher price, then change their clothes and transport them to the east of the river to dig coal. The coal dug up, exchanged for more money, became a symbol of their wealth on the one hand, and on the other hand, they could buy more and more prisoners of war. In this way, a new kind of trade in the North is increasing.

This stimulus has far-reaching implications. Because more and more people are involved in it.

Hexi Prefecture is a typical example. There are too many people who have become rich overnight, people who are looking for opportunities to make a fortune, people who have become rich. There are many, many of them.

Junior officer of the Yellow Turban Army, veteran. They became more and more disillusioned with the Yellow Turbans, and they decided to do something for their cause. And so they came here.

Bai Bojun, they are also a kind of guy who has lost his ideals. Like the Yellow Turbans, they felt that they had something to do for themselves, and in addition to that, there were bandits, bandits. The Republican Army resolutely cracked down on such violations of law and discipline, but Hexi Prefecture turned a blind eye to them. Because state laws are different from state to state. Judicial investigations are also different. The investigative team of the War Department was too busy. They investigate some big and important cases, and they don't care about these guys who have lost their ideals, are frustrated, and are looking for a fortune.

In addition, the merchants from Hedong who sought to make a fortune were very interested, and some of them often did some out-of-the-ordinary things, but they were aimed at the Huns in the north, and they had too many fakes in their hands.

Lending representatives of commercial banks, they represent financial power. Many of them are young people, most of them are from Hedong, and they can speak well. In the eyes of many, they are all financial crooks, a bunch of damn bastards. But sometimes, you have to beg these damn bastards. Financial scammers. Or a bank villain.

Because a lot of people who come here need money, veterans have a certain amount of money, but it's not enough to form their own armed forces, the militia also needs some support, they can't fight with the most basic weapons, they also need horses, which requires money. And supplies. Those Yellow Turban Army, White Polish Army, bandits, and bandits are also needed.

Doing business requires an investment of capital, and the only ones who can do it are these damn bank scoundrels. They will make a lot of unreasonable demands, for example, to provide more prisoners of war, horses, some mortgage for future harvests, or even to participate in them. They don't have to do anything, they can take a lot of profits. That's what the bank is.

In addition to banks, there are also arms dealers. It's another bunch of guys who look like dogs. They were dressed in very modest clothes, had four-wheeled carriages, and they often referred to the vulgar armed men. Then drink a glass of wine. When they were drinking, they would make money from the money the bank had lent them.

Many people who come here see the arms dealers and the banks as one and the same, with the former providing weapons and the latter providing funds. But both are bastards.

The arms dealers also knew very well that they could not sell weapons to the Huns, it was against the law, and once they did, wait for the investigation. The bottom line is that business can never be done. The biggest business customer is the military, Dong Zhuo has direct contact with the military, and they are all big customers, and the only way for these second-hand arms middlemen is to find armed forces to sell their special goods. Militia, police. In the demilitarized zone, this demand is very strong.

The only place where arms dealers can go is there, of course, Luoyang also has it, but after all, there is not too much business, and a lot of it is carried out in a way that is not visible underground.

But now, the demand for prisoners of war and the greater armed confrontation have made many arms dealers feel that their place to play a role has arrived.

Handan, at the door of the parliament.

It's usually the busiest place. Because the parliament usually gives some opinions on some legal provisions, solicits opinions, and explains the situation, these attract a lot of people here, there are accountants and legal people in the field of taxation. The biggest difference of the IRA is that with the profession of lawyer, it is an important measure to ensure the rights of the people. But a lot of people don't care about that, what they care about is that those are good and some are not.

Because of the presence of these people, because many people will gather here to discuss, it attracts some vendors. They sell snacks, or snacks or something, and cooked food for each other, or they just open a small shop and provide some alcohol, and the business is very good. Because there is no shortage of people here.

Business here is very busy today. Because there were a lot of people coming, they all gathered and kept talking. Argument or something. Even the owner here knows something.

"Boss, what are they arguing about?" Cao Ang will not refuse food. He heard that some of the pies here were very delicious, so he came here, but saw the atmosphere of the discussion, even if there was no stove. You can also feel the steaming heat in the shop.

"Hey, it's just a legal thing, we have heard a lot, and we know a little bit, it's nothing more than what can be done and what can't be done. To what extent it is illegal, nothing is illegal. Today's topic seems to be a little different, as if it is a matter of what party, how many people from Hedong want to enter the big council, and the people of Bingzhou want the same seats. The boss said helplessly.

"Tell me about it." Cao Ang asked curiously.

"Hey, it's nothing more than according to the money, or according to the population, it is said that we have a lot of people in Jizhou, but the problem is that Jizhou is not complete. But there are a lot of people in Hedong, and the people in Hedong are shrewd, and they have also joined the state. Naturally, there were more seats. This represents the interests of Hedong. In short, things are too messy. I went to say hello. The boss said embarrassedly.