The two messengers Su Hao said were Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen, two officials and businessmen.

Dong and Yang were businessmen whom Su Hao met when he first entered the capital. After Su Hao cleaned them up, the two sides shook hands and made peace, and instead of forming a grudge, they became business allies. Under the mediation of the eunuch Li Long, Su Hao, Li Long, Dong and Yang jointly opened several large coal mines and large iron mines in Beizhili, making a lot of money. The factory built by Su Hao in the suburbs of Beijing also has shares of Dong and Yang, and in terms of product sales, Dong and Yang are beyond Su Hao's reach.

According to the information revealed by Li Long to Su Hao, Dong Tianzhang's backer is Zhou Wei'an, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, and Yang Laizhen's backer is Zhongyong Marquis Zhuang Migao, who belongs to typical bureaucratic compradors. According to Li Zhen, behind every important minister of the imperial court, there are some agents who make money for them in business. The collusion between officials and businessmen was an open secret in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and the ministers could carry out political attacks on each other, but generally did not destroy other people's business.

This time, taking the opportunity to send arms to Su Hao, Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen came to Ningxia City, in fact, to see if there were any business opportunities. In the letter, Su Hao talked about things like coal mines and greenhouses, which made the two feel that they had an opportunity.

When the two of them first arrived in Ningxia, Su Hao was busy cooperating with Li Rusong to attack the city, so he didn't have time to accompany them. When Su Hao freed his hand, he found that these two were like fish in water in Ningxia City, and they had a market better than him, the deputy commander-in-chief.

"What are you two busy with these days?" Su Hao met Dong and Yang at his temporary residence in Ningxia City, and asked them with a smile as soon as they met.

Dong Tianzhang said with a smile: "General Su is busy with national affairs, and Uncle Zhao and I don't dare to disturb it, so we are busy with some business things by the way, but they can't be on the table." However, after surviving in the past few days, he also got tens of thousands of taels of silver for General Su Bing. It's worth the trip. ”

"What kind of trading is so profitable?" Su Hao was stunned, his business and Dong and Yang are cooperative relations, Dong Tianzhang said that he earned tens of thousands of taels of silver for him, which means that Dong and Yang also earned a corresponding amount of silver, what a big deal this must be.

Yang Laizhen said: "Actually, it's nothing, General Li from Liaodong found our two brothers and said that he wanted to purchase some artillery, grenades and muskets like the Kanyu Battalion. General Su has also explained this matter to us in the past. We added a few percent to the price that Mr. Su said, but Mr. Li agreed without saying a word. ”

The factory built by Su Hao on the outskirts of Beijing produces binoculars, cosmetic mirrors, high-manganese steel knives and armor, as well as various firearms. The former can be traded directly on the market. The latter can only be sold to the military. Su Hao needs a lot of investment to equip the survey camp, so he must sell the factory's production. Prior to this, Su Hao had entrusted Dong and Yang to help contact the military towns in various places to sell the firearms of the Su factory, and the price had been agreed in advance.

As an ordinary merchant. The production of firearms is a prohibited matter, let alone a blatant sale. However, the Su factory has Wanli's shares, and Dong and Yang also have deep backgrounds in the DPRK and China, so there is no problem in doing these arms trades. Previously, Dong and Yang had also sold some artillery, muskets and the like, but the sales were very small.

"General Li witnessed the grand occasion of General Su breaking Ningxia City. I can't put down our firearms. Ting and I also found Mr. Li on the door and said that he could provide exactly the same firearms, and Mr. Li immediately said that he wanted 40 artillery pieces, 1,000 flintlock pistols, and a number of bullets and shells. Yang Laizhen explained to Su Hao.

"This Mr. Li. What a rich man. Su Hao said with emotion.

This time, Su Hao helped Li Rusong break through Ningxia City, saying that he would not compete with Li Rusong, but he needed Li Rusong to pay to compensate for the loss of firearms. Li Rusong happily gave Su Hao 100,000 taels of silver, and bought the first merit of breaking Ningxia City from Su Hao. What Su Hao didn't expect was. After this battle, Li Rusong would even spend more than 100,000 taels of silver to buy all kinds of firearms, if he was not a rich man, how could he have such great courage.

"Mr. Su, although Mr. Li made this request, Uncle Zhao and I didn't agree to him immediately, mainly because we had to listen to Mr. Su's meaning." Dong Tianzhang said.

Su Hao was surprised: "What do you want to listen to me?" Are you worried that our factories won't be able to produce so many firearms at one time? ”

"Not really." Dong Tianzhang said, "I told Mr. Li that he wants too much, and we can only provide it to him in batches." He also agreed, saying that all the goods would be delivered within two years. ”

"And what are you worried about?" Su Hao asked.

Dong Tianzhang said: "Dong heard that this time General Su broke the enemy with firearms, and the credit was not small. This firearm is the treasure of our Kanyu camp, if it is sold to General Li in large quantities, won't he have to compete with General Su in the future? ”

"This ...... That's fine. Su Hao opened his mouth, he never expected Dong Tianzhang to think of this step for him, he sorted out his thoughts, and said to Dong and Yang:

"The two shopkeepers, we have been working together for two years, don't you know Su Hao's thoughts? I am not a person who cherishes myself, and General Li purchased these firearms for the border area, which is a good thing, and we should support it. As for the merit, I'm really not worried. There are so many places in this world where you can make a contribution, and I just hope that everyone can do it. ”

Actually, Su Hao had other things to say. As a traverser, he knew that the biggest foreign enemy of the Ming Dynasty in the future was the Jianzhou Jurchen in Liaodong. It would be great if Li Rusong could pacify Nurhachi in one fell swoop after obtaining these advanced firearms and eliminate a scourge for the Ming Dynasty. He couldn't say such a thing to these two businessmen, and he wondered in his heart if he could find an opportunity to talk to Li Rusong.

"General Su Bing's high style and bright festival, Dong admires." Dong Tianzhang said, "Actually, we have long known that Su Zongbing is a selfless person, so we did not refuse to Li Zongbing's side. Since General Bing Su agreed to this matter, we will go to negotiate with General Bing Li and sign the agreement earlier. ”

"Well, you can do it, when it comes to business, you can discuss it with Xiu'er, you don't have to tell me everything." Su Hao said, "Today, Hao invited the two of you to come over, because I have some other business, and I want to discuss with the two." ”

"What business?" Dong and Yang pricked up their ears, they have always been very keen on the business introduced by Su Hao.

Su Hao spread out a map and said, "As you know, Su is a surveyor, and he is expected to know the ability of the mine. After arriving in Ningxia Town, Su Hao took the time to look at the surrounding atmosphere and found that Ningxia Town was surrounded by treasures, which was simply a sea of mines. ”

"Is that really the case?" Yang Laizhen exclaimed, "General Su Bing, tell me quickly, where is the mine." ”

"First of all, it's the location." Su Hao pointed to the map with his finger and said: "This place is called Bayan Ula Mountain, which is rich in various minerals such as gold, silver, lead, zinc, as well as coal mines and phosphate ore that can be used as fertilizer, which can be called a treasure mountain. ”

"This ......" Dong and Yang are dumb, they are also people who have opened mines, and they have a certain ability to read pictures. From Su Hao's map, they could clearly see that this treasure mountain in Su Hao's mouth was outside the border wall and under the control of the Tatars. Such a treasure mountain, no matter how valuable it is, can only be a sigh of hope, who has the ability to mine it?

"What, you're not interested?" Su Hao asked knowingly.

Dong Tianzhang said: "Mr. Su is joking with the two of me, right?" What does this Bayan-Ula Mountain, which is clearly on the territory of the Tatars, have to do with us? ”

Su Hao said: "The Tatars are not born to occupy this treasure mountain, isn't the wealth of the world owned by whoever has the ability?" This mountain range is only 200 miles away from our side wall, so why can't we send troops to occupy it? ”

Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen had not been dealing with Su Hao for a day or two, and as soon as they heard Su Hao's words, they realized his intentions. Yang Laizhen asked: "What, General Su wants to send troops to the grassland and grab this mountain from the Tatars?" ”

Su Hao said: "What Shopkeeper Yang said is also right and not right. ”

"What do you mean?" Yang Laizhen asked.

Su Hao said: "Su Mou does want to send troops to the grassland, but the goal is not just to grab this mountain. You see, there's a big coal mine here, there's iron ore here, there's sand gold here, there's ...... here."

As he spoke, he pointed at the map with his hand and reported the minerals of various places. Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen listened to Su Hao's narration, only to feel that their mouths were dry and bitter, and their hearts were about to jump out. With so many minerals, what a fortune it would be if it could really be taken into your arms. The book says that the realm of wealth is a rich country, and the two of them never thought that they could reach it. But now, listening to Su Hao's words, they feel that this goal does not seem to be far away. Of course, the premise of all this is that the Ming army wants to enter the grassland and gain control of the grassland.

"Mr. Su, you say, what do you need us to do." Dong Tianzhang interrupted Su Hao's narration and asked bluntly.

Su Hao said: "If you want to control the grassland, you must use troops against the grassland. There are two difficulties in using troops, one is to use money, and the other is to persuade the ministers of the DPRK and China to agree to send troops. Two shopkeepers, how do you think these two difficulties should be solved? ”

"I see." Dong Tianzhang didn't answer Su Hao's question, because he felt that Su Hao didn't need him to give an answer, what Su Hao wanted was just their actions.

"We will leave for Beijing on the same day, and the matter of sending troops will be handed over to our brothers, and General Su can wait for news in Ningxia City with peace of mind." Yang Laizhen said.

"Then Su will wait for the good news of the two." Su Hao said with a smile, he was really not worried about the energy of these two officials and businessmen.