Li Song held a cotton cloth in both hands and waved it to me: Boss, you see that this cloth has a uniform color, the lines are clearly visible, and it is very soft and without wrinkles when you grasp it, and it can be seen from these points alone that this is a good cloth

Ma Nan pulled the cloth: Brother Li Song really has good eyesight, he is right, these cloths are indeed high-quality cloth, the south is a rich place, the popular colors and styles are different every year, we spin a cloth is less than hundreds of horses, more than thousands of horses, and so the new style will replace the last batch of cloth left, Brother Xian, these cloths in front of you are successively replaced in recent years

Ma Nan took us around this warehouse, not to mention that the types of cloth here are quite complete, like brocade-silk-silk-duan-cotton-linen-coarse cloth, Li Song saw that these cloths were in love, in his opinion, these cloths were already piles of hot silver

Li Yang: Brother Ma, you plan to sell a piece of cloth like this for more money

Ma Nan: At least 500 tattoo money

Li Yang: "Oh, Brother Ma, can you take me to other warehouses to have a look?"

Ma Nan: Absolutely

Ma Nan took me and Li Song and others to several other warehouses to take a turn, these warehouses are almost the same size in terms of layout and size, and the cloth is stacked on the shelves, which should have been stored for too long, and a layer of dust has fallen on the surface of these cloths

Ma Nan patted the cloth on the shelf: Brother Xian, this is the cotton cloth you want, it comes in four colors: black-red-blue, and white

Li Song took down a piece of cotton cloth from the shelf and patted the dust on it with his hand, he looked at the cloth in his hand repeatedly and nodded to me, and after I had a bottom in my heart, I walked to the shelf and raised my hand to wipe the dust on the cloth: Brother Ma, how many pieces of cloth can there be in this warehouse

Ma Nan: There are exactly 5,000 horses in one warehouse

Li Yang: Brother Ma, how many warehouses like this do you have?

Ma Nan: There seem to be 5 warehouses of cotton cloth, and the rest of the warehouses are some silk and sand-satin, and I can only sell you these fabrics at this price, and I can give you a cheaper price

Li Yang: Brother Ma's silk-brocade, how are you going to sell it?

Ma Nan: The cost of brocade silk is higher than that of cotton cloth, if you are interested, I can calculate one or two silver for each horse, rest assured that you will never get such a low price in other cloth shops

Li Yang: Brother Ma will give you an answer by allowing our brothers to discuss it

Ma Nan "cough" is not in a hurry, after a day's journey, your brothers should also be tired, take a rest first, and I will ask Uncle Hao to prepare a few dishes here, and everyone can try them first

After dinner, Ma Nan asked the family of the farm to arrange a place for us to come back to the room, Li Song took out the fire from his sleeve and lit the candle on the table: The cloth in the warehouse of the boss Ma is really cheap, I think you can consider bringing back some Jinling silk to try, we now have our own garment factory, cloth can not just rely on buying, this will only reduce profits, so we will have our own weaving workshop in the future, which can solve the livelihood of some people, and can also earn more profits for us

Li Yang: We can't be in a hurry to buy cloth for the second child, although we are friends with the shopkeeper, but in business, if we can talk about a penny more, then our profits will increase, and the cost of doing business is also to take a certain risk, and the cost will be smaller

After hearing this, Li Song nodded slightly in agreement: Boss, how many Jinling silks are you going to buy, if you buy less, I think it is enough to negotiate the price

Li Yang: Second, how many horses do you think you should buy?

Li Song raised his head and thought for a moment: Why do you have 5,000 horses, boss, how many Jinling silks do you want to buy

Li Yang: I think there will be at least 10,000 horses

Li Song gasped when he heard this, and looked at me with a look of disbelief: But if the boss buys 10,000 pieces of Jinling silk and adds 6,000 pieces of cotton cloth, then there will be not much silver left for us to bring this time

Li Yang raised his hand and stretched out: You don't need to do this, but I have my own way, just don't squeak and calm down when the time comes

Li Song: That's the boss

Li Yang: I'm a little tired after a long day's journey, so let's rest early

The day had just dawned, Li Yang was still lying in the quilt and asleep, out of nowhere, a loud rooster crow, "oh-oh", his eyebrows were furrowed on the bed, turning over and over on the quilt, covering his head could not stop the rooster crow, in a fit of anger, he kicked off the quilt and sat up from the bed, put on his clothes groggily, and then washed up briefly

As soon as I got out of the house, the family of the farm was already waiting outside to invite us to the main house for dinner, Ma Nan asked people to prepare a pot of rice porridge and a few dry food, as well as a few pickles that I don't know what kind of vegetables pickled, after entering the house, Ma Nan did a hard beckoning to me at the dining table: Come and sit down, this country is not better than breakfast in the city, let's deal with it simply, and at noon I let people stew two chickens in the whole few stir-fried vegetables

Li Yang sat on the chair next to the dining table: Brother Ma, isn't it very good, when I was at home, I also had a bowl of porridge in the morning

Ma Nan was very happy when he heard this, and he waved his hand: Then everyone, eat it while it's hot, and when you're done, I'll take you to the mountain col to have a look

After breakfast, Ma Nan took me and Li Song and Guanshan to drive two carriages to the col, and the wide flat land in front of us was beyond our expectations, because the mountains we used to see were not flat and the area was small, even the slopes of the fields on the slopes were about the same, and the visual people had a very comfortable feeling

Li Yang couldn't help but sigh: Brother Ma's col doesn't look very conspicuous from the outside, but after entering the col, there is really something else in the world, and ordinary people would never have imagined that there would be such a large area of flat land in this col

Ma Nan: Brother Xian, do you know that about 10 years ago, this is still a piece of algae land that no one cares about, my father happened to pass by here when he was doing business, and felt that the mountains here are surrounded by sufficient water and have a great future, our Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce spent 200,000 taels of silver to buy the mountain col in front of him, and then a few years and a little bit to buy the mountain col near here, before it can be said that the land is barren and the people are poor, my father and the nearby villagers spent several years of hard work together This mountain col has the appearance in front of me, Now the people here can be said to be rich and well-fed, and the family has surplus food every year

Ma Nan took a few of us to the depths of the mountain col, along the way Li Yang has been staring at the nearby fields, he found a problem, that is, there is no river near the tens of thousands of acres of fields in front of him, not even a small river ditch, where does the water needed to irrigate the fields come from, with questions I looked at Ma Nan: Brother Ma, I have something I want to ask you about

Ma Nan: You say

Li Yang: Brother Ma, the fields in this col cost 6-70,000 mu, but there is not even a river nearby, so how can these fields be irrigated?

Ma Nan: These fields are irrigated by water trucks diverting water from the big rivers in the north

Li Yang's face is clouded, "waterwheel leads water"

Ma Nan: Isn't there a waterwheel in Zhejiang?

Li Yang shook his head, "No", and then looked at Li Song: Second brother, did you ever see a waterwheel when you were a businessman?

Li Song shook his head: I haven't seen it, Brother Ma, it's inconvenient for you to take us to see what the waterwheel is like

Ma Nan agreed to a happy person: There is nothing wrong with this, the waterwheel is very common in our southern country

In the afternoon, Ma Nan took us to the end of the mountain col, next to a river canal, there are several rice wheeled waterwheels about 5-6 high, it does not need manpower and cattle and horses to control but rely on the water flow to promote, the tail piece on the round wheel will move with the water flow to bring the water to a wooden channel, in this wooden channel will lead the water to a 3-4 meters wide and half a meter high water distribution wooden canal, Ma Nan said that such aqueducts are all over the fields, but the specifications are smaller, and the water is more time-saving and labor-saving than using thousands of people to dig the canal. In the more remote fields, hand-cranked and foot-operated waterwheels draw water from the aqueducts, and a small reservoir has been built at the end of the col to prevent drought

There are also some ducks and geese catching small fish on the water, and the tenants are also building dozens of pigsties on the slope of the reservoir, and there is a wide field next to it that is specially used to dry pig manure, I thought that these dried pig manure is used to top dressing the fields, but Ma Nan told me that these pig manure is used to feed fish and shrimp, listening to him say this gave me some inspiration, Ma Nan took a few of us around the col for a day, and saw that the sun was about to go down before returning to the farm

This day really tired a few of us, as soon as we returned to the farm, a few of us rushed into the kitchen, Ma Nan lifted the lid of the pot to see that there were more than a dozen steamed buns on the curtain, I picked up a plate and picked up the steamed buns

Ma Nan looked at the cupboard: Brother Li Song, look at what ready-made dishes are in the cabinet

Li Song went to the kitchen cabinet to rummage through and only found some green onions and a plate of pickles, a few of us took the green onions and gnawed on the pickles and gnawed the steamed buns, probably too hungry, the cold steamed buns chewed in the mouth to some sweet pickles also became fragrant and delicious, more than a dozen steamed buns were killed by the four of us without keeping them, this full people were a little sleepy, went back to the room and lay down on the bed for a while, and fell asleep after a while

In the next few days, Ma Nan took us to other mountain cols to go around, it can be said that every inch of land here has been effectively used without the slightest waste of place, the mountain in front of us is a pasture fenced off, herds of cattle and sheep can be seen everywhere in the dense forest, it is estimated that there are 7-8 hundred, several nearby mountains are orchards and special bases for planting medicinal herbs, Ma Nan told us that the fruits and medicinal materials on the mountain are needed in the daily life of tenants, Listening to him say this, I think the Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce is definitely a conscientious enterprise in this era

It has been half a month since this trip to the south, and it has been almost a month since I went back by boat, and I don't know how well they took care of the militia on the plateau, I also think that Song Shiting and Hengyan have to hurry up and book this business

After breakfast in the morning, Li Song and I took Ma Nan to the warehouse: Brother Ma, our brother, can you give a cheaper cloth

Ma Nan: Brother, the price I gave you is really the lowest

Li Yang suddenly remembered that when he used to do business, there was a way to buy goods called pocketing, that is, I want these goods, you don't want money according to the number of pieces, directly according to the pile to value, as for whether to accompany the money, that is my business, there is also a way called consignment, that is, to take away the goods, etc., to give money, usually consignment will have a deadline, if you can't sell the goods, return the goods, you have no loss

"Brother Ma, you see if this is okay, I will cover all the cotton cloth in these 5 warehouses of 11,000 taels, we don't have to check them one by one, if the cloth is flawed, count it as mine."

After hearing this, Ma Nan took out a palm-sized abacus from his sleeve, picked it up a few times, and muttered in his mouth: A warehouse of cotton cloth is 5,000 horses and 2,200 taels, which can't even match the capital

Li Yang: Brother Ma, these cloths are also placed in the warehouse, so it is better to dispose of these cloths and return the capital

Ma Nan: "Haha", Brother Xian's words are right, but you can't let your brother lose too much, I think so, don't talk about 2,400 taels of cotton cloth per warehouse

A warehouse of cotton cloth is 2,400 taels to the fifth warehouse, and it is 500 taels of silver cheaper: Brother Ma, you see how much money a warehouse can give

Ma Nan: How about I give you 4,08 taels for a warehouse of silk

Li Yang: Brother Ma's 4,008 is unlucky, I don't think it's as good as 4,005 per warehouse, four plus five to get nine, ninety-five to eat the Quartet, we have to pay attention to doing business, if this price is good, I want four warehouses to get silk

Ma Nan looked like a rare "Oh, brother, I want to accompany the money at this price, so let's go brother, you let the brother accompany less, 4,006 per warehouse, you see how 4646000 things go well."

Li Yang: "Haha", Brother Ma is a cheerful person, that brother, I don't ink 4,06, just 4,06

Li Song looked a little flustered, he tugged at my sleeve and lowered his voice: Boss, we don't have so much silver

I patted Li Song lightly: Second child, don't worry, I know it in my heart

Ma Nan looked at me and Li Song: What's wrong, Brother Xian

Li Yang: "Oh, my second brother said, Brother Ma, you are a particular person, and this batch of cloth is definitely worth the money."

Ma Nan was very happy after hearing this: Brother, you bring this batch of cloth back to Zhejiang and wait for the cash to be collected at home

Li Yang thanked him: This is all up to Brother Ma, by the way, Brother Ma, do you have any other business that can make money

Ma Nan raised his head and thought for a while: Brother said that I really have a business that can make money

Li Yang: Please also ask Brother Ma for advice

Ma Nan: Brother paper is a profitable business in the south, and the demand is increasing year by year, if you want to make money, this is a good business, and the profit is very high

The use of paper is very wide from ancient times to the present, up to the office records of the yamen, to the literati writing poems and paintings, teaching and educating people, writing books, down to the people to pass letters, pasting windows, Ma Nan reminded me how I didn't think of it before, the more inconspicuous it is to do business, the more profitable it is: Brother Ma, this is indeed a good business, but brother, these people around me do not know how to make paper

Ma Nan shook his head helplessly after hearing this, "Hey, brother is a brother in Lanxiang Pavilion, I owe you a personal favor, then I will teach you the technology of papermaking to repay, and I will also send a handmade papermaker to Zhejiang with you until you can make paper."

Li Yang: Brother Ma, you really have nothing to say to your brother, if you want to be useful to your brother in the future, I will do my best

Ma Nan: Don't be in a hurry to thank you, you have to promise me one condition before that

Li Yang: Brother Ma, please speak

Ma Nan: I will recycle each piece of paper you make at a price of 3 lines, but I will guarantee to provide 10 million pieces of paper for the Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce every year, and you can sell the rest at will

Li Yang calculated that there would be 30,000 taels of silver in the year, although I don't know how much profit paper can bring, but I think there should be no problem with 10,000 taels of silver left a year: Brother Ma's papermaker can make more than one piece of paper a day

Ma Nan: About 4-5 hundred

Li Yang: That's no problem, by the way, Brother Ma, I want to discuss something with you

Ma Nan: You say

Li Yang: Brother Ma only brought 20,000 taels of silver this time, see if you can do this, I will pay off the money of 5 warehouses of cotton cloth first, I will pay you 5,000 taels of silk in 4 warehouses, and I will pay you 5,000 taels after returning to Zhejiang, and I will settle the rest of the money when this batch of silk is sold

Ma Nan picked up the palm-sized abacus again: Brother, I have been in business for more than ten years, I have seen you who are careful but I have never seen you so calculating, you really put the account into the bones, it is the first time I have encountered a business like you, if it were someone else, I would have asked the guy to send the guest away

Li Yang smiled innocently: Brother Ma, I still want to buy some cattle, sheep and pigs from you

Ma Nan: A cow gets at least 18 taels of silver, and a sheep and a pig get 8 taels of silver

Li Yang: Brother Ma, I want 100 pigs and 100 sheep each

Ma Nan: Okay

Li Yang: Brother Ma, can you help me hire a few ships to transport these goods back?

Ma Nan: "Oh, you have to hire 5 big ships for these goods, and it is estimated that it will cost 1,000 taels of silver."

Li Yang: Brother Ma, we have a ship docked in the port of Nantianfu, so it's almost the same to hire four ships

Ma Nan: Four ships also cost 800 taels of silver, I think you might as well hire two ships to transport the urgently needed goods back first, and you can transport the rest of the goods back to Taizhou in horse-drawn carts and ox carts

Li Yang sighed lightly: Brother Ma is dissatisfied with you saying that I did not obtain an official certificate when I came to the south this time, and if you use a horse-drawn cart and an ox cart to pull goods, you will not be able to pass through the northern pass of Zhejiang without an official certificate

Ma Nan looked confident: Brother Xian, don't forget that the business of our Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce is all over the world, you don't have an official basis, I have it, and you can enter the customs with you when the time comes

Li Yang slapped his thigh and stomped his foot violently, "Alas, Brother Ma, look at how I looked at this stubble."

Ma Nan: It is estimated that it is enough to put these 100 oxen on the ox cart, if it is not enough, hire some horse-drawn carts, although it takes more time, but it can indeed save hundreds of taels of silver, and these ox carts should be able to be used in the future

Li Yang: How many days does it take for Brother Ma to travel overland to Taizhou?

Brother Ma: It takes more than half a month to walk from Nantianfu to Taizhou City, and the cattle and sheep are slower than people, and it is estimated that they will have to walk for more than 20 days and nearly a month

Li Song: There are still many things in the old family, why don't you take a boat back first, and Brother Ma and I will go back with his caravan

Li Yang thought about it, how could someone have to take the land route to transport these cattle, sheep and cloth back to Alan County: It's okay, second brother, then you have to take care of yourself

Li Song: Don't worry, boss

Ma Nan: Brother Xian, don't worry, I will take care of Brother Li Song

Li Yang thanked him: Then there is Brother Lao, by the way, Brother Ma calculates how much silver I should pay you for these goods

Ma Nan: The cotton cloth in the five warehouses is 12,000 taels, the silk in the four warehouses is 18,400 taels according to your statement, and you will pay 5,000 taels in advance when this batch of silk arrives in Taizhou, and the remaining 8,400 taels will be paid after the silk is sold, 100 cattle and 1,800 taels - 100 pigs and sheep will only be 1,600 taels of silver, and you will have to give me a total of 20,000 and 400 taels of silver

Li Yang: Brother Xingma, when I return to Nantianfu, I will give you the silver

As he spoke, he took out a silver ticket from his sleeve: I will give you this 1,000 taels of silver ticket from Brother Ma's eldest son first, so that I will also give you 19,400 taels of silver

Ma Nan nodded slightly, "Hmm", I will let people transport these cloths back to Nantianfu, and strive for the caravan to set off for Zhejiang in these two days, without further ado, let's leave for Nantianfu."