Southwest of the Empire.

Lintao County and Heyuan County are separated by a high west-sloping mountain, and the Tao River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, originates in this mountain.

The indigenous Qiang people of Taoyuan call this river the spring water flowing from the palace of the Dragon King, while the Han people call this river Fusangqu. A Tao River is also the boundary between the Loess Plateau and the Gannan Plateau in Longxi.

Under the west slope mountain, the place where Taoyuan flows is high in the west and low in the east, between the endless high mountains, there are small basins in between. The mountains on both sides of the Tao River are steep, and there are some houses and people in the small river flats.

Here the winter is long and there is no summer, the spring and autumn are short, and the cold is damp.

On the bank of the river, a simple wooden village stands by the river, and the village is about two people high with logs driven into the ground and connected, and the village is not large, and it is square.

Its layout is similar to the post stations that can be seen everywhere on the roads of the Central Plains, with stables, trading areas and rest areas.

Although the wooden plug is small, it has a circumference, and a circle of moats has been dug outside the wall, and some sharp stakes have been planted inside. Only one gate was opened in the stockade, a drawbridge was set up in front of the gate, and even four arrow towers were built on both sides of the drawbridge to guard it.

On the gate, there is also a small gatehouse.

There is a flag standing high on the gatehouse, and the flag is painted with a large Qin character.

This hunting bright red flag, in this green mountains and white waters, looks particularly dazzling.

The sun is setting, and the wind is cold.

In this wild frontier land, this red flag is more and more public.

This is not a post station in Daqin, nor is it a fortress fortress of the border army, in fact, this is just a trading post established by merchants, and it cannot even be called a border city.

The closest yamen to the Great Qin court was Taoyuan County, but it was still more than 100 miles to the east. Although there is still Heyuan County in the west, the high west-sloping mountains actually make the two counties unable to communicate with each other.

The sky was overcast and gloomy.

Wang Cheng was wearing a sheepskin robe, a dogskin hat on his head, and deerskin boots on his feet, wrapped in fur all over his body, and a pair of hands wrapped in sleeves.

He had just come in from the gate, greeted the guards guarding the door very familiarly, and went directly to a familiar business after entering the stockade.

"Lao Wang, are you back so soon?"

The guy from the Da Sheng Chang firm greeted him with a smile.

"When the matter is done, I will come back quickly, and I dare not delay more." Lao Wang said with a smile, "Xiao Liu, has business been good lately?" ”

Xiao Liu said, "Don't you see it, there are few people in broad daylight, you just came back and don't know that there is going to be a war, so now everyone is a little worried, business is not good, many merchants have returned, and some of them are directly back to Lintan and Lintao City, waiting to avoid the limelight." ”

Lao Wang went back to the Central Plains some time ago, but he went home to marry his son, marrying his son is a big deal, he had to go back, happily took his daughter-in-law over the door, after the banquet, he gritted his teeth again, bought dozens of acres of land for the newlywed sons and daughters-in-law, and asked the family to build a yard for them, and let them go out to live.

Although I am happy, but after such a toss, the foundation of the family is almost the same, the eldest is married, but there are three sons in the family.

So Lao Wang didn't care about enjoying himself at home, so he immediately rushed here again.

Lao Wang has more than 20 years of experience here, the first was to follow the caravan here to collect fur, and then slowly he simply did it alone, running orders to help him collect it.

In order to be able to make money, he had to go deeper into the remote places and collect directly from those Qiang people, so that the profits were greater, but they were also more dangerous and hard.

Fortunately, Lao Wang has been running a single gang for ten years, although he has encountered countless dangerous things, but he has turned the danger into a disaster, not to mention, the single gang has also saved a family business for him in the past ten years.

He's even used to it now.

Especially now that the Central Plains is stable, and the Great Qin Imperial Court is majestic on all sides, it is much safer for them, the Central Plains merchants, to walk on the border.

Last year, several big merchants joined forces and traveled more than 100 miles to build this trading point, which was very convenient for a single-gang merchant like Lao Wang.

"Xiao Liu, call your shopkeeper to come over, I'll take out a loan."

Xiao Liu persuaded, "Uncle Wang, why don't you just rest for a few days and then enter the mountain." ”

"It's okay, your Uncle Wang and I have been running here for many years, and I am very familiar with the Qiang people here, even if we really fight, it will be fine."

"You are familiar with the local Qiang people, but you are afraid that the Tuyuhun people on the other side of the mountain will come, and it is said that the Tubo people are also here this time."

Lao Wang still thinks that it is impossible for them to fight here, after all, there is a Heyuan County on the other side of the mountain, even if there is no soldier and horse castle in Heyuan County, but it is unlikely that any Tuguhun Tubo people will come directly to this side, and they should go to Hexi.

Xiao Liu couldn't be persuaded to move, so he had to go to the back and call the shopkeeper Liu over, the shopkeeper Liu is Xiao Liu's uncle, and he is also from the Central Plains.

"Lao Wang, I heard San Lang say that you plan to go into the mountain to receive the goods?"

"Well, you can't be idle."

Lao Liu persuaded a few words as usual, they were all friends who had known each other for many years, but they couldn't be persuaded to persuade them, so they had no choice but to give up.

"Then follow the old rules?" Lao Liu asked.

Lao Wang responded with a smile.

Lao Wang has been running a merchant here for many years, and he usually runs the order gang, and every time he takes out a loan on the merchant's side, and then goes to buy all kinds of necessary commercial goods, such as tea, salt, wine, some cloth and silk, and even some iron pots and knives.

These things are the things that the Qiang people in the mountains are most interested in, and they can be sold at an excellent price.

However, salt, tea, wine and ironware are all strictly controlled by the imperial court now, and the monopoly tax is very high.

Lao Wang ran a single gang with little capital, so he took a loan first and then bought, and then went to sell. After returning, the principal will be repaid and the interest will be paid.

The interest rate is not high, but it is not low, with an annual interest rate of three thirds.

The interest on the loaned money is 33% for a year, but it will not be less in advance, and if it is delayed, it will be compounded and the interest rate will be raised.

Of course, for Lao Wang, the profits of these commodities such as salt, tea and wine are very high, while the profits of iron tools are even higher. So as long as there are no accidents, you can earn a lot of money every time you run, but it is very hard and takes a long time to run.

According to the old rules, Lao Wang borrowed money from Dachang, signed and painted his fingerprint, and then Lao Liu gave him the money. After taking the money, Lao Wang first purchased a batch of goods from Lao Liu, Dachang is a fur buyer, but there will also be a lot of merchants from the Central Plains who come to sell here.

After purchasing a few things he needed, Lao Liu went to several other shops again, all of them were familiar shopkeepers, and they got things done while talking and laughing.

Chen Shengchang, Yucheng Houhao, Jin Longsheng, Cai Xiangmao and other firms, are the partners of this trading point, but also a well-known big business in the Longyou area, they together funded the construction of this trading point, set up shops here, in order to be able to receive first-hand fur goods, the purchase price to the minimum, seize the trading area.

These firms and Lao Wang's running gang is a win-win relationship, they have a large capital, so they are mainly engaged in fixed-point acquisitions, many Qiang people directly send furs to trade, of course, there are some more remote areas of the Qiang tribes, inconvenient to come and go, so there are Lao Wang such a merchant ran over to buy the transaction, and then sent back to sell to the shop, in this way, Lao Wang they can make some, but the bulk is still the business to earn.