As soon as the route of Linzikou was opened, the long-suppressed trade in Yuezhou immediately became active. So taking advantage of this opportunity, the Taiping army purchased a large number of materials for the winter here to prepare for the next stage of the operation. The bazaars in Yuezhou were full of Taiping buying points, and the purchase price was slightly higher than the market price, and the people in the vicinity were willing to sell their things to the Taiping army.

In addition to purchasing materials, the Taiping army also attaches great importance to recruitment, Yang Xiaoshan specially instructed Luo Dagang to levy more boatmen, fishermen, and sailors.

Yang Xiaoshan took the guards to inspect Yuezhou, and there was a scene of enthusiasm everywhere, conscription of conscription, business of business, everyone was very busy and harmonious.

Yang Xiaoshan was indulging in this "national peace and security", but there was a discordant quarrel in one place.

"Why don't you Taiping Army talk nonsense, the strip you gave me three days ago, one stone of rice and two taels of silver on it, why don't you admit it today?" The one who spoke was a black man in his forties, medium height, but very strong, dark skin, Chinese face, and his voice was very loud, attracting many people to come and watch the excitement.

Yang Xiaoshan was also attracted by the noise here and walked over.

"This was the price three days ago, and now that we have almost harvested rice, we are not going to harvest it again. It's good that you have a sliver, but you can't come at this price now, so we lowered the purchase price the next day. This voice is from Yang Fuqing, the superintendent, who is the approver of the price, and only the price at which he nods can be purchased to ensure the fairness of the price.

"What's the situation?" Seeing the commotion here, Yang Xiaoshan immediately rushed over and asked.

Yang Fuqing saw Xiaoshan coming, and hurriedly replied: "Shizi, this person is here to make trouble." The price of our rice has been lowered, and he has to sell it to us at the price of the first day. ”

"Oh? Why did you lower the purchase price? Yang Xiaoshan then asked.

"Shizi, you don't know. The price of rice here is cheap, and the market price is one stone of rice and one tael of silver. On the first day, because we were in urgent need of rice, we gave a high price of one stone of rice and two taels of silver, but our rice was almost harvested that day, so I changed the price later, one stone of rice and one and a half of silver. The price is also fair, and it is still much higher than the market price. Yang Fuqing swallowed and foamed at the mouth and explained.

"What do you mean, boss?" Yang Xiaoshan probably knew the basic situation, and turned his head to ask the black man.

The black man looked at Yang Xiaoshan's tone of voice and knew that he was in charge, so he hurriedly said loudly: "This military master, villain Tang Zhengcai." When you gave me the strip, you didn't say that the price would be reduced, but you also said that the more the better, and as many as you wanted. In order to do business with your Taiping Army, I specially transported this rice from Jingzhou, of course, it is more expensive than the market price here, if it is purchased at this current price, I will be busy in vain. ”

"Is he telling the truth?" Yang Xiaoshan's situation was basically clear, and he turned to ask Yang Fuqing again.

Yang Fuqing was a little embarrassed, and muttered: "The last general didn't expect the Yuezhou transaction to be so hot, when he asked me for a note, I didn't think it through, and casually said how much I wanted, and the last general was guilty!" ”

"The villain is right, you yourself say as much as you want. Now that I've pulled the rice, but the price has been lowered, isn't this a villain? The black man Tang Zhengcai immediately shouted.

"The eldest husband spits a nail and counts it, so forget it, just collect it at the price of two taels and one stone." Yang Xiaoshan knew that it was his side that was at a loss, so he was only half a tael of silver, so he admitted it.

Yang Fuqing didn't wait for Yang Xiaoshan to finish speaking, grabbed him, and said in a low voice: "Shizi, we can't easily recognize this, this black man has brought a full twenty ships of rice, and there is a difference of more than 1,000 taels of silver in the middle." If the amount was small, the last general would have stopped wasting saliva with him arguing here. ”

"How much do you say?" Yang Xiaoshan didn't seem to hear clearly, and then asked.

"More than a thousand taels of silver!" Yang Fuqing accentuated his tone and emphasized.

"Not this, how many ships are coming?" Yang Xiaoshan still wants to confirm.

"Twenty ships!" Yang Fuqing looked at Yang Xiaoshan and didn't understand why he was asking this.

"This business can be done." Yang Xiaoshan nodded.

"Shizi, as I said earlier, their amount is too large, and we have almost harvested rice, so we don't need so much grain." Yang Fuqing is inexplicable, is it difficult for the world to understand what he means?

"You'll understand later." Yang Xiaoshan didn't have time to explain to him. Invite the black man to the empty barracks. "Boss Tang, please take a step to speak."

"As long as you don't pay your bills, you can go anywhere." Tang Zhengcai followed Xiaoshan into the barracks.

Yang Xiaoshan carefully observed this Tang Zhengcai again, and found that his hands were different from others, he seemed to be often soaked in water, and his hands were wrinkled, and he asked: "Boss Tang doesn't seem to be an ordinary businessman, he looks like a craftsman." ”

"The military master is really smart, the villain is a shipbuilder, and our Tang family all make a living by building ships. Ships that could not be sold and ships that had not yet been picked up by customers were temporarily incorporated into their own fleet to do small business. Now that it's winter, there is no way to build a ship, so I can pour some goods in the Yangtze River and make some New Year's money. Tang Zhengcai replied.

"Oh? Will you also build ships? Yang Xiaoshan's eyes lit up, he originally valued this person for being able to bring more than 20 boats, admired his command skills, and wanted to attract him to join the Taiping Army, but he didn't expect that this person could also build ships, which is the talent that the Taiping Army lacks the most.

"Yes, in the past, our family built warships for the imperial court for generations. In recent years, the imperial court has run out of money, and we have no work to do, so we can only build some transport ships for the merchants, and there is not much work, just enough to make ends meet. So in the winter, you have to dump some goods and do some business to make some money for the New Year. To tell you the truth, I will give more than half of this money to honor the lords on this waterway. "What Tang Zhengcai said is the truth, the imperial court has no money to build warships, and they have lost their income. In this era of war and chaos, there were few businessmen, the Yangtze River was flooded with water thieves, it was difficult for the Tang family to sell the boats, and the status of the craftsmen was low.

"It stands to reason that if it is sold to you now at the price of two taels of silver and one stone, other people who sell it to us below this price will definitely have opinions。。。。。。。" Yang Xiaoshan moved his heart to recruit.

"Master Jun, this can't be done, the silver at the bottom of our family is all bet on the rice of these twenty boats。。。。。。" Tang Zhengcai thought that Yang Xiaoshan would not agree, and he was a little anxious.

"Don't worry, listen to what I'm saying. But if you join our Taiping Army, not only can this deal be done, but I can also promise you a position as a water camp military division, and your family's food and drink will be covered by the Taiping Army. You only need to build a warship for the Taiping army, if you build a good ship and defeat the Qing army's sailors, it is very possible that the kingdom of heaven will give you the title of marquis and general in the future. What do you think? Isn't this better than you tossing around on the Yangtze River, having no meal, and looking at other people's faces? Yang Xiaoshan said bitterly.

Tang Zhengcai was a little tempted when he heard this, this shipbuilding is still official, and the errand of ensuring revenue and food in this chaotic era is also very rare. In addition, if he refused, the military master was angry and did not buy the rice from his own ships, and the Tang family went bankrupt. After weighing it again and again, Tang Zhengcai finally made up his mind and said: "Thanks to the adult's refusal to give up, I don't feel that the villain is from a low background, and I look down on the villain so much, Tang Zhengcai is willing to follow the adult to the death." ”

Yang Xiaoshan let out a long breath, the shortcomings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's lack of shipbuilding talents have finally been made up. With the Tang family, there will be no shortage of warships for the sailors of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the future, which greatly enhances the strength of the sailors of the Heavenly Kingdom. The Taiping army crisscrossed the Yangtze River, which could be realized in the near future.