The next morning, when the sky was just clear, the west gate of Chongyang was quietly opened, and several healthy horses came out, and the riders immediately shouted at each other and went away, and the sound of hooves was so loud that they gradually drifted away in the early morning mist.

They were messengers to the various villages to report victory, and since the invasion of Song Jiang, there has been an undercurrent in Chongyang County, and the news of victory can calm the people, boost the courage of the gentry to resist, and deter those lawless people who are ready to move.

Each envoy carried a letter written by Xu Bingzhong, reminding the local gentry to strengthen their vigilance to prevent Song Jiang from dividing his troops to plunder the township, and to retreat in time if the water bandits attacked in a big way, and to implement the clear of the wilderness.

The other two envoys set off by boat at the pier and took the waterway to Wuchang Mansion to report the victory. This battle killed more than 400 water bandits and captured more than 300 alive, such a solid merit is enough to attract the attention of He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, Gongyi Camp and Chongyang County are honored, and the two envoys are also one person each.

The messenger of the Gongyi battalion is the steady and mature Wang Sheng, and he is also responsible for another important task, urging follow-up food and materials, and recruiting a group of auxiliary soldiers in the battalion, and now is the time for lack of money.

According to Wang Kefan's jihua, he is going to recruit 350 auxiliary soldiers, and these auxiliary soldiers have to rely on their own efforts to solve all expenses ...... their salaries, clothing, equipment, and even the settlement of their families and disability pensions.

Recruiting additional auxiliaries is tantamount to changing the existing establishment of the Gongyi Battalion, this kind of matter is very sensitive, He Tengjiao will definitely not agree, if he clearly expresses his opposition, Wang Kefan will never be able to force against the governor of Huguang.

can only be cut first and then played, starting from scratch.

A fait accompli is easier to accept, wait until the raw rice is cooked and mature, and then win two battles, so that He Tengjiao can see the role of the auxiliaries, and he should be able to laugh at it. Perhaps, he will be suspicious because of this, but Wang Kefan doesn't care.

At present, the most important thing is the economic problem, and only when we have money in our hands can we develop and grow, and we must find ways to open up financial resources.

Before this expedition, Wang Kefan did not receive much money, food and materials.

The war against Song Jiang was managed by Huang Shu, but Huang Shu deliberately made it difficult for the Gongyi battalion, and in addition to the monthly salary, he did not give a tael of silver. If it weren't for Niu Zhongxiao and Xu Bingzhong reaching out to help, Wang Kefan's four sentinels would be hungry.

According to a rough estimate, it would cost at least two thousand taels of silver to recruit three hundred and fifty auxiliaries, and Wang Kefan did not have so much money.

However, the Gongyi battalion had just won a great victory and captured a lot of booty.

Weapons, livestock, vehicles, equipment ......, Meng Bao may not be able to fight, but he is really a good hand at cleaning the battlefield, and everywhere he goes, he returns all the belongings thrown away by the bandits back to the city, and then transfers them to the Gongyi battalion. Although there is no precious gold or silver in it, it is better to have a large amount of goods, and the livestock and horses are still valuable, and they should be able to sell for a lot of silver.

At eight or nine o'clock in the morning, several special guests came to the Gongyi camp one after another, they were very familiar with each other, and chatted as soon as they met.

"Oh, this is not Song Daguan! Brother Ren is vigorous and full of spring breeze, he must have met a happy event! ”

"Hehe, Qian Wailang, haven't you eaten?"

"Zhao Butou, I was still talking about you just now! How about it, there are so many bargains today, let's make a deal together? ”

These people are rich but not expensive, most of them are dressed as businessmen, and they came to the gate of the Gongyi camp with greetings.

"Everyone, please wait, let me go in and tell you."

The soldier turned around, and the shopkeepers of the tooth shop continued to talk about business......

Yahang is a commercial bank that operates intermediary business, which was very prosperous in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and covers a wide range of business types. Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, trading, transportation, lending, warehousing, food and lodging, and even collecting taxes and ...... instead of the government, the common people's clothing, food, housing and transportation, and all kinds of goods transactions all rely on the tooth shop.

Chongyang is a small county, there are only a dozen dental shops in total, in addition to the local small dental merchants, there are also two large dental shops in other places to open a branch.

The "Xiangchu Commercial Bank" is the official of Huguang Province, and in addition to normal business operations, it is also responsible for inspecting taxes and managing the market. The shopkeeper of Chongyang Branch is surnamed Qian, and he is half a businessman and half official, so he is called "Qian Wailang" by everyone.

(Wailang was an official name in the Han Dynasty, and later evolved into an honorific title for the officials of the Yamen after the Song Dynasty.) ）

"Long Maochang" is a wealthy private tooth, which has opened hundreds of branches in Huguang, Jiangxi and Liangguang, and it is said that the background in the imperial court is very deep. The shopkeeper of the Chongyang branch is surnamed Song, and even the county magistrate Xu Bingzhong saw him and politely called Song Daguan.

(Daguan is an honorific title for local tyrants, and there is a Ximen official in "Water Margin", or the male protagonist of "Golden Vase Plum"...... Well, not much to explain. ）

"Song Daguan, what good things can there be from the water bandits! You are making money every day, why do you want to grab this bit of rag with us? "It was Zhao Butou who spoke, strictly speaking, he is not a tooth businessman, he is mainly engaged in wharf water transportation, and he is also a half-businessman and half-official.

Song Daguan smiled reservedly: "Hehe, this purchase was ordered by Xu Daling himself, of course Long Maochang has to do his best to ......"

Wang Kefan was anxious to use the money, so he found a few tooth shops through Xu Bingzhong, ready to sell the seized loot. The face of Chongyang County Ling is really not small, and almost all the shopkeepers of various dental shops have arrived.

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps on the street corner, and a thin black man in his thirties rushed over panting, and when he saw everyone, he rushed to make a circle, and his mouth was busy greeting.

"Song Daguan, Qian Wailang, Zhao Butou ......, Yu Saburo is polite."

This person's name is Yu Sanlang, a small tooth merchant in Chongyang County, he is wearing a half-new and not old Ge cloth gown, the corrugated hat on his head has broken several threads, and he is barefoot with a pair of old straw sandals.

Song Daguan pursed his lips in disgust and scolded: "Yu Sanlang, what are you doing?" ”

"Back to the words of the Song officials, Gongyi Camp released the purchase today, and the villain came to see what business to do."

"Haha, it's funny!" Qian Wailang pointed at Yu Saburo and smiled exaggeratedly: "You are also a businessman?" Do you want to pay for manure? ”

A trace of annoyance flashed in Yu Saburo's eyes, but he smiled and said: "Don't dare, don't dare, just to collect manure, and then look at each other and send some firewood." ”

The scope of the business of the Ya shop is different, Yu Saburo is engaged in the business of manure and firewood, reselling the manure in the county town to farmers as fertilizer, and then collecting firewood from farmers and sending it to the county for sale.

This is the lowest lowly industry in the tooth industry, Yu Saburo is poor and short-minded, and his peers have always bullied him, Qian Wailang shouted a few times, and he was not allowed to participate in today's purchase.

"Yu Saburo, do you know what the occasion is today? Don't embarrass us, you pickled goods don't go quickly! "Qian Wailang is an official tooth, except for the powerful Long Maochang, he has always been majestic in front of other private teeth.

Yu Saburo was reluctant to leave, and argued with his neck: "Qian Wailang, don't make it difficult for the villain!" Although the signboard is small, there are a lot of tooth stickers and letter books, so why don't you let me buy them? ”

Since the water bandits invaded Chongyang, the people have no intention of farming, and Yu Saburo's business has also been greatly affected.

Seeing that he suddenly made a stubborn mistake, the other tooth merchants came up together to fight and help Qian Wailang speak, but Yu Saburo just didn't want to go, everyone was arguing, the gate of the Gongyi camp was suddenly pushed open, and Wang Kefan personally greeted him.

Wang Kefan was dressed in military uniform, with a smile on his face, and bowed his hand before speaking, and politely let the tooth merchants enter the barracks. At this time, Qian Wailang couldn't take care of San Lang anymore, so he followed everyone and came to the warehouse where the loot was stored.

Inspect the quality, estimate the price, and the tooth dealers choose the goods they like. The small tooth merchant is out of the shopkeeper himself, but Long Maochang and Xiangchu Commercial Bank are all with their own teeth, Song Daguan and Qian Wailang are leisurely, you say a word to me, and surround Wang Kefan with a big fart.

In the face of the noise of these two people, Wang Kefan always smiled, answered kindly, and was very patient. With his identity, he didn't have to be so polite, but Gongyi Camp was in urgent need of money now, and Wang Kefan cared about it, so he lowered his figure and talked around with these two tooth merchants.

It's all about the silver, and hopefully this loot will sell for a good price!

It didn't take long for the tooth merchants to select the goods, and put together a price list and presented it to Wang Kefan.

Is it so much silver?

According to the market price estimate, the batch of loot he took out was worth at least 1,000 taels of silver, but the price list was only more than 500 taels, which was half less!

"Qian Wailang, Zhao Butou, have all the goods been settled clearly?" It's not that the tooth merchant picks the fat and the thin, there are a lot left.

"Back to the general, all the goods have been settled, not a single one." Qian Wailang's eyes kept rolling.

"Hmmm......"

Wang Kefan carefully looked at the price list one by one, and immediately found the problem: "Is this price too cheap, for example, these are all military horses that can go into battle, why is it that one horse is only sold for seventeen taels of silver?" ”

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were many wars, coupled with the lack of horses in the south, so the price of military horses remained high, and forty taels of silver may not be bought.

"General Wang doesn't know that these horses are all looted by bandits, and they have no insurance and no households, so they can only be sold at a low price." Qian Wailang swallowed nervously, a little weak.

The joints of the tooth shop transaction are complicated, and it is difficult for outsiders to figure it out, Wang Kefan looked at it noncommittally, and asked: "There are two hundred and seventy fine iron knives, and each handle is always four hundred wen, which is too low, right?" ”

In the war years, everyone was in danger, and the price of weapons continued to rise, and a good knife could be sold for three or four yuan, and the price of 400 wen was only 30%.

Song Daguan made a gesture and took over the conversation with a smile: "Back to General Wang's words, these weapons are all obtained by the water bandits to loot the officers and soldiers, and they are not visible at all, and the system is huge and complicated, and it is not easy to sell, and it has always been unprofitable for four hundred wen a handle, and the price is really not low." ”

He had a humble smile on his face, but he insisted on the price and did not let go, in business, Long Maochang had a lot of dealings with the government, Wang Kefan was just a small six-product thousand president, there was nothing to be afraid of.

All the tooth merchants saluted one after another, crying bitterly: "General Wang blamed me for waiting, this batch of goods is indeed unprofitable, and the price can not be increased!" ”

This reason is far-fetched!

Wang Kefan was slightly angry, his cold eyes were meeting Song Daguan, Song Daguan's body trembled slightly, and he quickly picked up his clothes and knelt down.

"If General Wang doesn't believe it, I'd rather not do this business, so as not to be poked in the back by the people......"

"Alas——, what did the Song official say?" Wang Kefan smiled faintly, waved his hand and said, "Hurry up, just receive the goods according to this list, and you don't need to add one or two pieces of silver." ”

The smile on his face did not disappear, but the anger in his heart was even stronger, this group of tooth businessmen was insincere, listening to his words and watching his deeds, he must be doing something.

It is natural for businessmen to pursue profits, but one of the responsibilities of the tooth shop is to fairly assess the price of goods.

However, the construction of the army is more important, and in order to solve the urgent need, we can only suffer a dumb loss first.

After Song Daguan got up, he was still discerning, Wang Kefan ignored him, and only ordered his subordinates to do official business, deliver the cashier, and the atmosphere was a little embarrassing. After the transaction ended, the tooth merchants left one after another, and Wang Kefan nodded and did not give it away.

However, he was caught by a misfit tooth merchant, a thin, shabby-dressed black man who had only picked up a dozen or so damaged chicken carts, and offered a fair price.

"Which tooth line are you? I have some other goods here, would you like to pick one? Wang Kefan asked.

"Thank you, General Wang!" Yu Saburo said excitedly: "I want to buy from your army, that, yellow and white things......"