Chapter 225: If you don't do it, you can't do it

When he approached the opposite boat to a distance of less than 100 meters, the opposite boat began to slow down, and Li Mao thought that if the ships of the two sides approached again, it would be difficult to dodge, because there was still a string of boats dragging behind him. Li Mao motioned to Mu Yi, and Mu Yi immediately ordered: "Pay attention to each cannon, three shots per cannon, fire!" ”

With a command, twenty mortars opened fire in unison, and with the sound of "knock knock" shooting, two of the three ships on the opposite side burst into flames, and the other also burst into smoke. At this time, the ships of the two sides were already very close, and the ships of the other side were suddenly hit and did not react. Mu Yi ordered: "Prepare the crossbow mine, fire oil mine, shoot!" ”

Another batch of oil mines was thrown at the three ships, and the result was that all three ships caught fire, burning along with the sails and rigging on board. Mu Yi commanded the steamer, turned to dodge the oncoming fire, accelerated through the right side of the three ships, and quickly left the three ships behind the fire. Behind these three warships, there were many small warships of the Eight Great Kings, but they were stunned by the scene just now, watching the steamship drag a string of ships through in front of them, and none of them dared to attack again.

Li Mao: The speed of their fleet was basically unaffected.

Mu Yi is also known as the order, "Tidy up the mortars and rest separately." ”

Although after a battle, Li Mao and Mu Yi's conversation has not diminished, while drinking tea and talking, while enjoying the scenery on both sides of the Yangtze River, they entered Dongting Lake, from Dongting Lake to the south, into the Xiangjiang River, and then to Changsha Mansion.

When the fleet docked, it was morning. Li Mao and his entourage, with a boatman who was familiar with the situation in Changsha, went ashore to find an inn. After staying at the inn, after breakfast, I asked the shopkeeper for the route and went to visit a businessman from Changsha who had done business in Yangzhou before.

This merchant's surname is Mao, and his name is Mao Hui.

In front of a shop that had just been laid off next to a stone street, Li Mao asked the guy: "Mao Hui, is Mao Dong's house there?" ”

didn't wait for the guy to reply, just as Mao Hui came out from behind, looked up and asked, "Guest officer, I am Mao Dongjia, what are you looking for me?" Mao Hui didn't see who was coming, and he didn't expect Li Mao to arrive.

But without waiting for Li Mao to answer, Mao Hui felt that the person who came was familiar, and just about to speak, Li Mao said: "Mao Dongjia, what a noble person is so forgetful!" Don't even know me? ”

Mao Hui never expected that a big shopkeeper like Li Mao could suddenly visit him, and hurriedly said: "Oops! Oh, my God! I never dreamed that Shopkeeper Li could come to my small shop, it is really brilliant. ”

Speaking of this, Mao Hui suddenly paused and asked, "How did you come here?" Jiujiang has Zuo Liangyu, those officials and soldiers are like wolves and tigers, and Wuchang has the eight kings Zhang Xianzhong is extremely vicious, you have come all the way, and we have not dared to go out for a long time after we have cut off contact with the outside. ”

Li Mao Yile said: "We just arrived in Changsha this morning, but on the way here, we fought with the people of Zhang Xianzhong, the king of the Eight Great Powers, before rushing over. ”

Li Mao's words were very relaxed, Mao Hui was a little dumbfounded when he heard this, Li Mao said when he saw this: "Don't make a fuss, we don't mess with them, they come to provoke us, we have to fight back." ”

Mao Hui asked: "You came here so dangerously, didn't you do some business?" ”

Li Mao replied: "We are businessmen, and we don't do business and eat anything. I've brought a lot of fresh goods this time, so you can take a look at them first. ”

Li Mao told Mao Hui where he lived, and went back to the inn first.

When he returned to the inn, he met the shopkeeper of the inn, Li Mao asked him where there was a tin mine, and it happened that the shopkeeper was still knowledgeable, he said: "The place you are looking for is far away, and you have to walk four or five hundred miles along the Xiangjiang River, there is a tin mine, and even the tin comes from there." But if you want to buy Lianxi, you don't have to go that far. The tin mines there are too far away for the guests to go, so they will take the tin to Changsha and sell it, and you can go directly to them. ”

Li Mao was of course happy to hear this, and quickly came to the shop of Lianxi Mine according to the instructions of the shopkeeper.

Even a few people from the tin mine shop were listless, and no one came for a long time, and they didn't expect anyone to come to the door today. When Li Mao arrived, these people were in a panic, and Li Mao could see that no one had come here for a long time, and they seemed very nervous. In order to ease the atmosphere, Li Mao said: "It's too hot here, can you beg for water?" ”

That's when they remembered that they should pour tea for their guests. After a moment of panic, tea finally arrived.

These people watched Li Mao drink tea, and they were not nervous, and a shopkeeper asked: "Guest officer, but you came to buy Lian Xi?" ”

Li Mao said: "Exactly, if I need Lian Xi all the year round, can you give a good price?" ”

The man hurriedly said, "The price is good, how much does the guest officer need?" ”

Li Mao didn't answer, and asked, "Do you have the selected tin ore?" Do I need it too? ”

The man hurriedly said: "Yes, but there is no stock here in Changsha, and it will take a few days to ship it." If you want tin, we have it in stock and at a fair price. ”

"I need 100 stone of tin every month, 300 stone of tin selected ore, and I want goods all year round, can you give a price?" Li Mao said.

After listening to Li Mao's words, this man was a little dizzy, and said: "I will give you the price of tin immediately, but we have never sold the price of tin ore, so we need to ask?" ”

Li Mao said: "In this way, the price of tin will be as you said, and the ore will be a quarter of the price of tin." If you can accept it, you will prepare the goods first, and this time I will take them away, and as for how to transport the goods that we need every month in the future, we will discuss again, how about it? ”

This one said: "Can you wait for me for three days, I will give you a letter, you know that we only sell things here, how to sell the ore at home, we have not done it." ”

"I understand your difficulty, I want to go back and ask, and if you agree, bring the goods back with you when you come back, and we will pay the money as soon as we get to the docks. Don't be in a hurry, I'll go to Xiangtan for a few days. After Li Mao finished speaking, he got up and returned to the inn.

When Li Mao returned to the inn, he saw Mao Hui with a few people, and after everyone sat down in the guest room, Mao Hui said: "Today's people are all my good friends in Changsha. ”

Li Mao said: "Thank you Mao Dongjia for introducing me to such new friends, and welcome all friends. We who do business just want to have more friends. With friends, there is business. ”

Mao Hui said: "Shopkeeper Li, then we are welcome, we want to go and see the goods you brought now, how about it?" ”

"Okay, my business in Changsha has been done, and I want to go to Xiangtan for a while, so I will leave the goods you are optimistic about, and I will go to Xiangtan for the rest." Li Mao said.

As soon as a few people arrived at the dock where the boat was parked, they found that there were many people around the dock, making noise.

Li Mao separated the crowd and squeezed into the crowd to see what Mu Yi was theorizing about the people on the boat and on the dock.

When Mu Yi saw Li Mao coming back, he said to the people on the dock: "Don't quarrel, everyone, our shopkeeper is back, you can tell him something." ”

Seeing Li Mao get on the boat, Mu Yi came over and said: "The merchants on the dock are all merchants from Changsha, they heard that a merchant ship is coming, and they all want to come to see the goods to do business, I don't let them get on the ship, they are making noise here." ”

Li Mao nodded after listening, and then said to the people on the dock: "Everyone, I can understand everyone's feelings, now there are wars everywhere, the world is not peaceful, it is not easy to have a merchant ship from the north, everyone wants to do business, but doing business also requires wishful thinking, you can't come hard, right?" ”

Li Mao's words made the people on the dock have nothing to say, and quieted down, Li Mao said again: "That's it, the people who came back with me are our former friends from the kiln, I finished talking with them, and there are still the remaining goods, if you are willing to come and talk, let's talk again, okay?" ”

After speaking, Li Mao made a gesture and asked a few people who came together to get on the boat. This made the people on the docks go crazy with jealousy, but it couldn't help it. The few people who followed Li Mao on the boat looked very proud. It made them show a big face in front of these people.

When he came to the ship, Li Mao showed them the samples of the goods he brought, which opened the eyes of these people, they felt good about everything, but these people who came were all small businessmen, Li Mao gave them a very fair price, and several of them added together, and they only bought a ship of goods.

After they finished selecting the goods, Li Mao took out a boatload of goods and gave them to the merchants waiting on the dock, and this little cargo was snatched up at once.

After Mao Hui settled the goods and silver, he asked Li Mao: "Shopkeeper Li, can you ask, do you have anything else to do in Xiangtan?" I think if it's just selling goods, you can do it in Changsha. ”

Li Mao replied: "I went to Xiangtan to buy the kind of pigment that adds black to ceramics, because we need this kind of goods for a long time, so we have to go to the mines in Xiangtan to have a look." ”

"I think so, it's very difficult and inconvenient for you to speak Hunanese, I just don't have anything urgent, so I'll go with you. At least they can understand what I say. ”

Li Mao said: "That's great, it's just going to trouble you." ”

"You're welcome, you came this time, and I showed my face in front of everyone. Truth be told, I earn more money for some of the goods I have bought with you today than I have earned in a year. Mao Hui said very realistically. This made Li Mao like him very much, so he said: "Then we are welcome, we will have a lot of cooperation in the future." I don't know if you leave tonight, can you arrange it? ”

Mao Hui said: "I have no problem, but how do you drive the boat at night?" There is no moon today. ”

Li Mao said: "Okay, then it's decided, you go back and inform your family, we will sail at night." Then you'll know how we sailed at night. ”

Mao Hui is still a very knowledgeable person, he is very familiar with the Xiangjiang waterway, under his guidance, the boat quickly arrived in Xiangtan. Along the way, Mao Hui opened his eyes, whether the boat was going against the current and the wind, or sailing at night, the speed of the boat was so fast. Of course, while Mao Hui opened his eyes, the boatmen on both sides of the Xiangjiang River also opened their eyes. The blinding light kept them talking for a long time.

With Mao Hui's help, after the fleet arrived in Xiangtan, they quickly found the location of the manganese ore mine. After meeting the owner, the owner was of course happy when he heard that Li Mao was going to buy his things, and led Li Mao to his mine, saying: "These things are only used to make pigments for ceramics, and the general amount will not be very large." I'm also making some of this stuff by the way. ”

Li Mao said according to Zhang Zhimu's teaching: "I want the granular pigments you picked out, can you guarantee a long-term supply?" If we could, we would need 800 stone a month. ”

The owner of the mine almost lost his joy when he heard this, and said: "Yes, I can guarantee that we have all the people here, and I can make the price cheaper." ”

Li Mao said: "However, what I need is to pick out the particles, and there must not be any impurities. If you can guarantee it, our business will be settled. ”

The proprietor can guarantee it, and said: "Don't worry, I will personally look at the quality, and it will not be inferior to you at all." ”

Li Mao said: "I still have to stay in Xiangtan for two days, you try to prepare these things for me in the past two days, how many can you get out, I will take as many as I want this time, do you think it's okay?" ”

Li Mao felt that the situation was unstable now, and it was not the time to buy a mine, so he didn't talk about it. Li Mao is a person who does things in a very orderly manner, and if he were to change to someone else, he might directly talk about buying a mine according to Zhang Zhimu's request. But the difference between Li Mao and him is that he can judge the situation and handle things.

With the help of Mao Hui, the goods brought by Li Mao were sold out in less than a day, and of course he had to earn more silver than in Changsha.

Xiangtan is a distribution center for commodities from the north and south.

Since Qin Shi Huang built the Ling Canal, the waterways of the Xiang River and the Li River were connected, that is, the water system of the Xiang River and the water of the Pearl River. This is the water passage that crosses the five mountains together with the north and south, and there is another passage between the north and the south is the ancient road of the big Yuling. Due to the special location of Xiangtan, a pattern has been formed in which the goods from the north and south are concentrated in Xiangtan and then scattered everywhere.

Some of the goods brought by Li Mao and them were thrown in Xiangtan without causing a single sound, and they were finished. This made Li Mao very shocked by the ability of this place in Xiangtan to absorb goods.

In the few days I got along with Mao Hui, Mao Hui once said: "Thanks to you for coming, otherwise my store will not be able to open, and as soon as the Yangtze River waterway in the north is cut off, I will have no goods to sell, but fortunately, I still have some fields in the countryside, so I plan to go home and farm if I can't do it anymore." ”

Li Mao said: "Your business will continue to be done, and I will give you a business for you to do." We also have to accept Liantin and Liantin ore every month in Changsha, as well as what we order here in Xiangtan. If the waterway is not passable, you will rent a warehouse in Changsha and put it first, but it can't be transported, we will send a ship to pick it up in person. If you don't send a batch of goods, we will give you a commission, so that you will not be delayed to do your own business. ”

Of course, Mao Hui was very happy when he heard this, and being able to rely on the big tree of the kiln gang man was something he never dreamed of. It seems that there is a good reward for doing good deeds. I was kind enough to accompany me to Xiangtan, and people still entertained me with good food and drink, and I got such a good thing.

It seems that the owner of the manganese mine has really worked hard. In the past few days, nearly 800 stones of manganese ore have been selected. After Li Mao saw the owner, he was also very happy, and said: "Then load the ship, you must make up enough 800 stones, which is exactly the carrying capacity of two flat-bottomed boats." And told him that in the future, these things will be loaded to Changsha every month, and they will be sent directly to Yangzhou without unloading the ship and Lian Xi and others.

After loading the ship, Li Mao directly paid the silver to the owner of the mine, and the owner couldn't close his mouth happily, in the opinion of the owner, these are useless things on the mountain, and the silver in exchange is the same as the one picked up.

Li Mao's steamboat, dragging two flat-bottomed boats loaded with manganese ore, went down the river and returned to Changsha.

When they arrived in Changsha, the shopkeeper who sold the tin ore had returned, and they completely agreed to Li Mao's request, and brought back 300 stone of fine tin ore and 100 stone of tin ore.

Li Mao introduced Mao Hui, the future contact person, to him, and Mao Hui will be responsible for everything in Changsha in the future.

After Li Mao hurriedly purchased some silk fabrics in Changsha, he hurriedly set off and returned, because Li Mao knew that Zhang Zhimu would definitely buy a lot of grain when he arrived in Guangdong, and he needed a large space to store it in Huai'an, which needed to be solved by him on the spot.

On this morning, Li Mao said goodbye to Mao Hui, who saw him off, and set sail along the Xiangjiang River to Dongting Lake, and after passing Dongting Lake, he entered the Yangtze River. Mu Yi said to Li Mao: "Be careful in this section, if we encounter an interception, we will speed up the river and rush over, and no one can catch up with us." ”

Li Mao said: "It's best not to get into trouble, we still have a lot of things to do." ”

Along the way, Li Mao and Mu Yi didn't dare to be careless. They ordered the mortars to be on standby on the foredeck so that they could attack at any time in case of danger. However, it seems that the people of the Eight Kings were frightened by the mortars last time, and Li Mao's fleet has passed through the Wuchang section without encountering any trouble, but there are not many ships coming and going on the Yangtze River.

After Wuchang walked for a while, Li Mao and Mu Yi both breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this time it should be fine.

But what they didn't expect was that as soon as their boat entered Poyang Lake, they were stopped by two boats of the official army. It turned out that it was Zuo Liangyu's army, and Li Mao hurriedly stepped forward to explain: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are the fleet of Yaogang, and we have a bronze medal given by the emperor, and we can pass through at will in the Ming Dynasty." Please make it convenient for the military masters. ”

However, the officers and soldiers on the official ship on the opposite side did not open their faces at all, and said: "Now it is the thief army that is making trouble, and we suspect that you are colluding with the thief army, and now we are going to requisition your boat. ”

There was no way, Li Mao didn't want to start a war with the official army, so he had to slowly stop the ship.

The two ships of Zuo Liangyu's army on the opposite side found that Li Mao's ships were a string, and they thought that they must be fat ships, and now they could be regarded as seeing oil and water, although they saw the ship in front of them smoking, and they didn't know what was going on, but they couldn't take care of it. As soon as the boats on both sides docked, some officers and soldiers couldn't wait to jump onto Li Mao's boat.

Regarding Zuo Liangyu's army, Li Mao has also heard about it for a long time, the military discipline of this army is extremely poor, and it does all kinds of evil with strong guns and killings everywhere. Some of their soldiers would go into the houses of the people, and if they did not have money, they would use wooden planks to pick up people and roast them on fire, and the fat people would often shed oil all over the ground; When they snatched the women from the boat, if they looked at the children on the shore and cried to their husbands, they were immediately beheaded. Zuo Liangyu supported his own troops, and he held 120,000 troops entrenched in Jiujiang, ignoring the orders of the imperial court, and the imperial court was also afraid of Zuo Liangyu, and he was helpless.

Li Mao said to Mu Yi: "It seems that it is not possible to do it without doing it. ”

Mu Yi snorted with his nose and said, "The reputation of the official army is to ruin these guys. Let's talk about killing these beasts! ”

Seeing a lot of officers and soldiers jumping in, Mu Yichong had already prepared the firefighters, and ordered: "Fire!" ”

With the sound of "bang" muskets, more than 20 officers and soldiers who boarded the ship were knocked down on the boat. Then the musketeers rushed to the side of the ship and fired again "bang" at the two officers and soldiers. Mu Yi ordered again: "Cast **!" ”

The musketeers, each of whom threw two more ** at the approaching officer ship, blew up the two officer and army ships in a mess with a "boom".

Li Mao saw that it was almost over, and said to Mu Yi: "Let's go, teach them a lesson." ”

Throwing down the two ships with countless casualties and being blown up into a mess, the two ships did not care, and the steamer began to roar and drag a string of ships forward.

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Calculus formulas, tables of chemical elements; Conquer Japan in the east and attack Mayi in the south; Penicillin, syringe. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".