Chapter 31: The Meeting

"Brother Yufeng, long time no see." The sea breeze on the shore of Yunguam Island is blowing, and He Tengxiao has been staying in Pingshan Fort these days. Pingshan Fort and Yunguan Island are in ruins, and many of the materials needed need to be purchased by Shi Yufeng from Jinling and other places by sea to Yunguam. The sea ice had not yet melted, and the ships could not be moored directly on the island, so Shi Yufeng took more than a hundred people to transport supplies to the island.

Under the guidance of more than a dozen craftsmen, the strong men on the island repaired the old facilities of Pingshan Fort, and Yunguam Island was a busy scene.

"He Qianhu!" He Tengxiao has an official body, and Shi Yufeng called He Tengxiao with an official title to show respect. In the letter, He Tengxiao informed him of the news of leaving Yunguam and asked him to purchase some materials and transport them to Yunguam Island for the construction of Yunguam.

He Tengxiao greeted Shi Yufeng on the east coast of Yunguam Island, and after Shi Yufeng went ashore, he looked around curiously, and several craftsmen-like people were cleaning up the debris on the east coast with a bunch of strong men. Shi Yufeng thought to himself: Could it be that He Tengxiao wants to build a port on Yunguam Island? If this is the case, it will be much more convenient to sell supplies to He Tengxiao in the future, and there will be no need to unload goods on shallow beaches.

"I haven't seen you for more than two months, I didn't expect He Qianhu to go out of Zhenyun Guam again, Yu Feng is here to congratulate He Qianhu." Shi Yufeng said with a smile.

"Brother Yufeng, it's cold outside, go to the island to talk." Shi Yufeng is a man of temperament, He Tengxiao has no need to beat around the bush with Shi Yufeng and lead Shi Yufeng to the island. turned around and instructed Chang Qing, "Let the man cook some hot porridge for Shi Ye's people to warm up their bodies." ”

There were no decent buildings on Yunguam Island, and He Tengxiao entertained Shi Yufeng in a lightly renovated barracks.

Although the barracks were simple, they were not as cold as the outside when they burned two charcoals for warmth.

Shi Yufeng and Wen Kelong sat down in front of the stove, put their hands on the stove to roast the fire, and He Tengxiao asked Shi Yufeng and Wen Kelong to pour two cups of hot tea.

"I just saw Minfu on the east bank on the shore of Qing, He Qianhu is going to build a wharf on the island?" Shi Yufeng took a sip of hot tea, and his heart warmed a lot. Shi Yufeng is the most vengeful and talented junior of the Shi family, and he wants to revitalize the Shi family's business. Shi Yufeng pinned his hopes on Liaodong, hoping to open a gap in the shopping malls in Liaodong and snatch a piece of meat from the mouths of Jin merchants and Jing merchants.

"The three states in southeast Liaoning, Fuzhou and Jinzhou all have their own wharves, and Gaizhou naturally has a wharf in Gaizhou." He Tengxiao said.

Shi Yufeng nodded, when he was doing the Shi family's business in Liaodong, he had been to Fuzhou and Jinzhou, and had seen the seaports of Fuzhou and Jinzhou. The coastlines of Fuzhou and Jinzhou are tortuous, and the construction of wharves has inherent advantages, and the harbors of Fuzhou and Gaizhou are excellent havens, and the ports are wide and deep, and can berth large ships of tens of thousands of stones. The materials transported from Dengzhou and Laizhou to the Liaodong Peninsula were first transported to the seaports of Fuzhou and Jinzhou and then transferred to all parts of the Liaodong Peninsula, including the materials from Gaizhou. If Gaizhou can have its own wharf, it will be much more convenient to store materials from Dengzhou and Laizhou in the future.

"The conditions of Nanyang Wharf and Beiyang Wharf in Fuzhou, as well as Qingniwa Wharf and Nanguan Wharf in Jinzhou, are better than those from Gaizhou. But it's always good for Gaizhou to have its own dock. Shi Yufeng said that due to the lack of congenital geographical conditions in Yunguam, the scale of the wharf cannot exceed that of Fuzhou and Jinzhou, but it is better than nothing. The sheltered conditions of Yunguam Island are not bad, but the area is relatively small, but it is more than enough to build a medium-sized wharf, and a medium-sized wharf can basically meet the needs of Gaizhou.

He Tengxiao agrees with Shi Yufeng's opinion, after all, he has been running business outside all the year round, and he knows more about the Liaodong Peninsula than ordinary people. The bay of Jinzhou has another resounding name after hundreds of years - Dalian Bay, and the bay of Fuzhou is the bay of Fuzhou hundreds of years later. These two bays were the most important and largest seaports on the Liaodong Peninsula in later generations, and the conditions for building wharves were naturally comparable to those of Yunguam.

Now the people in the He family are uneven, and each has their own thoughts. He Fangxiong sits in Fuzhou in the last years of the wind and candle, and He Shibao sits in Jinzhou. After He Fangxiong's death, no one can predict what kind of drastic changes will occur within the He family. He Shihu put down his posture and asked He Tengxiao to leave Zhenyun Guam, and he also had this aspect of consideration.

Gaizhou's current materials are transferred from Fuzhou and Jinzhou, once there is a change, Fuzhou and Jinzhou cut off the material delivery of Gaizhou, and He Shihu will be very passive.

"After the port of Yunguam is completed, Brother Yufeng will not have to go to the beach to deliver goods to me, isn't it beautiful." He Tengxiao said with a smile, "On the day the port was built, I set aside a piece of land for Brother Yu Feng on the island to build a trading company, and Brother Yu Feng's goods could be stored on Yunguan Island in the future. ”

"Then I'll thank you in advance for a thousand households." Shi Yufeng thanked him, the Shi family had previously focused on doing business in Liaoyang, and there were three trading companies in Liaoyang, after Liaoyang was occupied by the Liao State, the Shi family's trading company in Liaoyang City was gone, and Shi Yufeng had to pack up the gold and silver and flee for his life. The only surviving trading houses of the Shi family in the Liaodong region were two trading companies in Jinzhou and Quang Ninh. The Shi family's previous efforts were mainly focused on Liaoxi and Liaoyang, and did not pay attention to the business of the Liaodong Peninsula, and did not set up a trading company in the three prefectures of Gaifujin. If a trading company can be established in Yunguam, it will provide great convenience for the Shi family to open up their business in Gaizhou.

"Don't thank me too soon." He Tengxiao smiled, "I still have something to ask you." ”

There is no such thing as pie falling from the sky, and Shi Yufeng, who has been climbing in the mall for many years, naturally understands this truth; "Senhu-sama, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

"I want Brother Yu Feng to help me buy a few boats at the Longjiang Shipyard." He Tengxiao said bluntly, "After the port of Yunguam is completed and put into use, boats and ships will gather, and businessmen will gather, so it is natural that there will be sailors to ensure the safety of Yunguam." ”

Shi Yufeng cannot deny that Longjiang Shipyard is the largest shipyard in Dazhao, and the shipyard has built a large sea ship with a load of nearly 100,000 stones in its heyday. When Shang Chuanren was in charge of Renping, he also purchased warships at the Longjiang Shipyard to enhance the combat power of the Jinling Naval Division. It is not difficult for Shi Yufeng to rely on the connections of the Shi family in Jinling to buy a few ships from Longjiang Shipyard.

He Tengxiao took precautions and was able to consider the defense of Yunguam before the port was built. Shi Yufeng is even more convinced that He Tengxiao is a person who can be relied on, and he is not wrong about He Tengxiao.

"One more thing." He Tengxiao said, "This time I came to Brother Yufeng, not just to buy ships, the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market has been opened, I need tea, you will help me buy tea as soon as you return to Jinling, the more the better." ”

After a break of more than ten years, Peng Chaodong reopened the tea and horse market in order to ease the pressure of the Mongols on the northern frontier of the empire. Peng Chaodong's reopening of the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market was very sudden, and he did not announce to the outside world that he would open the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market. Merchants from all over the country are not prepared to buy tea in advance, and now that tea is scarce in Beiyuan, there are many barbarians who rushed to Beiyuan to trade tea and horses when they heard the news, but there are few transactions that can really be concluded in a day.

The high profit of the tea and horse trade can be said to be a huge profit, and one hundred and fifty catties of medium tea can be exchanged for a fine horse. In the origin of these teas in the two lakes of Fujian and Zhejiang, more than one or two pieces of silver can buy fifty catties of ordinary tea. And a first-class horse can be sold for 50 taels of silver in the north, and in the south of the Yangtze River, where horses are scarce, a first-class horse can be sold for 100 taels of silver.

Although the tea and horse trade was profitable, the control of the tea and horse trade was very strict in the center of the imperial court. Not all merchants were able to participate in the tea and horse trade, and the imperial court had strict restrictions on the tea and horse trade, and merchants involved in the tea and horse trade had to obtain a tea guide issued by the imperial court before they could bring the same amount of tea as the tea guide to the designated tea and horse trade place for trading. Tea without tea will be treated as illicit tea, and like selling illicit salt, selling illicit tea is a capital offense once it is caught.

He Tengxiao got 8,000 catties of tea from He Shihu, which was enough for He Tengxiao to exchange for more than 50 first-class horses, but He Tengxiao did not have tea leaves in his hands, and it was a pity that these tea guides were idle.

"The Shi family is also in the tea business in Jinling, and it is not difficult for me to allocate a batch of tea from the Shi family's tea warehouse to the thousands of households, and I still did this thing." Shi Yufeng fiddled with the carbon fire in the stove with tongs and said, "However, the water of the tea and horse trade is very deep, and Lord Qianhu really went to this troubled water early?" ”

The tea and horse trade in the Great Zhao Empire was almost monopolized by the Jin merchants, and the Shi family once wanted to get involved in the tea and horse trade, but they soon hit their heads in this business and were severely suppressed by the Jin merchants. The Shi family lost money year after year, and finally had to give up the tea and horse trade. The Shi family also has some background in the DPRK and China, and they still kowtow in the tea and horse trade, and He Tengxiao, a middle-level military attaché, wants to get involved in the tea and horse trade, Shi Yufeng is a little worried.

"Where is the water shallow in Liaodong? Brother Yu Feng is a person who understands, and the situation in Liaodong does not need to be understood by me He Tengxiao, presumably Brother Yu Feng can also understand it. He Tengxiao said that in the past few days, He Tengxiao has read a lot of news about the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market, and the center has different opinions on the opening of the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market, and how long the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market can be opened has not yet been determined, regardless of whether the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market will continue to open or close in the future. He Tengxiao's idea is to make a fortune when the tea and horse market opens. Now his war horses are scarce, only more than fifty war horses, and the tea horse trade is a shortcut to obtain war horses. Even if the head is kowtowed, it is necessary to fight for dozens of war horses, and in the eastern Liaodong region, war horses are an important strategic resource.

"Recently, I heard that the Pingyao Qiao family's trading company in Fujian and Zhejiang bought a large amount of tea. The Qiao family has always controlled the tea and horse trade in Liaodong, and they are very close to the King of Liao. If He Qianhu wants to get involved in the tea and horse trade, the Qiao family will not sit idly by. Wen Kelong remembered the painful experience of being suppressed by the Qiao family a few years ago when he ran the tea and horse trade, and reminded He Tengxiao.

"Haha, thanks for the reminder." He Tengxiao looked up to the sky and laughed wildly, "Teng Xiao doesn't understand the powerful relationship, but it is not easy to survive in Liaodong under the current situation, so why should I He Tengxiao offend the Qiao family?" If things are tied, He will not be able to have a foothold in Liaodong sooner or later! "At present, the wealthy clans in Liaodong are in the game, and the two countries are fighting each other, and the situation is complicated. If you want to survive in troubled times, you must be strong, decisive, and resolute in doing things, otherwise you will either be trampled on by others and become a pawn of others.

He Tengxiao offended He Shizhong by serving as a thousand households in Pingshan Fort, and offended Huang Yongtao and He Shizhong when he went out of Yunguam. Has he offended fewer people in just two months?

"That being the case, we have the power to support He Qianhu." Seeing that He Tengxiao was so courageous, Wen Kelong was infected by He Tengxiao's words, and his enthusiasm surged when he listened to it, and he sighed that it was better to be younger, young and enthusiastic, and full of sharpness.