In Yanzhou, at the port on the waterside of the Tantan outside the city, three steamships berthed at the dock. Several cave owners and followers who arrived in the business of the city were in the port area. When they saw the smoked strange ship, they couldn't help but feel a little scared.

But when he saw the acquaintance "Shopkeeper Chen" coming off the boat, he didn't care about so much and went up to meet him. The two sides had a warm conversation.

Of course, the Lords of the Caves did not speak official language, but Chen Dading, the shopkeeper Chen, had learned to speak their local dialect, so there was no obstacle to communication between the two sides. While they were talking, the Lords of the Caves saw the young and strong people moving out of the cabin and unloading them onto the dock, and their eyes became hotter.

Fearing that they couldn't express it clearly, the lords of the cave gestured and said, "Double the more, double the more! The salt I want is twice as much as last time!"

"Credit, first on credit, and next time I will make up for the missing raw mouth!"

Chen Dading tried to persuade the lords to sit down in the awning beside him and replied calmly: "Don't worry, I've transported enough salt pipes today! But there are other goods, don't you want to take a look first?"

After hearing what he said, the lords asked, "Is there an iron pot? Scythe, hatchet, hoe..."

"Yes, there are, don't worry... It's still the same rule, follow the same rule..."

After a while, the Lords of the Caves sent their own confidants to follow Chen Dading's people to select goods that had just arrived on the shore. The Lords of the Caves had just been transported to Shengkou, Yanzhou, and soon became Chen Dading's "account".

These raw mouths do not need to board the ship and are taken directly to the sugarcane plantation outside the city to work.

Brothers, I decided to settle the accounts clearly. Chen Dading and the owner of the plantation are relatives, but the accounts that should be settled must be settled: by the end of the year, the sucrose produced in the plantation can be paid for part of the payment for Chen Da’s custom-made goods.

Family transactions need to be taken care of, and one's own "money prospects" must also be provided, not to mention the added risks that need to be compensated.

Since the surname is Chen, he started shipping, the sudden increase of risk must be a waste of money to gain courage, right?

Of course, Chen Dading didn't need to do such a small matter himself. He stayed in the port area to drink with several cave masters.

Wine is a strong wine, which makes the cave owners fascinated. With the local winemaking process, they naturally cannot make such fine wine. Therefore, merchants like Chen Dading, who have "good reputation" have become the only source of fine wine.

The Lords of the Cave are the best, but the life of the village is too hard, and they lack salt and iron. Even if they are the best, their lives will not be very good.

As the leader of the cave, I can’t eat much salt. The village lacks iron tools. An iron knife that chops wood can be used as a heirloom for many generations.

Nowadays, it is possible to sell salt, wine and iron tools by selling it through plundering. This transaction is very cost-effective for many cave owners.

The official army has magical weapons and powerful weapons that can attract thunder and thunder, so it is impossible to resist the sale of iron farm tools. For the masters of each cave, iron tools are very precious things like salt.

The lords who cooperated with the government army to quell the rebellion had a "quorum" every month, and they could obtain a certain amount of salt and a small amount of iron farm tools from the government. However, if they wanted more, they had to trade with merchants like Chen Dading.

Therefore, catching the raw mouth became a matter that the cave owners were worried about every month. They summoned male men to attack the surrounding villages to obtain the raw mouth, and then exchanged the raw mouth for salt, ironware, cloth, and many daily necessities from the merchants.

Some of the iron tools exchanged will be retained and some will be melted to make weapons. Then let your subordinates take these weapons to attack other villages and catch more livestock.

Among the people caught, young and strong sell to officials and businessmen, children stay in the village for slave labor, and women keep them for giving birth. If this continues, the number of people in the village will inevitably grow rapidly and their strength will become stronger and stronger.

If you work hard to be a hawk for the government, you will never be able to open up land and farm on the plains, build a large village, and live in a good house, which is better than being on the mountain.

This principle is easy to think clearly, but some people may not be able to think of a deeper principle.

Taking advantage of the government's lack of salt limit, we can't help but let everyone attack the surrounding villages, so we can take this opportunity to show our strength and strive to obtain a single official position, legitimately strengthen our strength, and become the Lord of the Cave above the Lord of the Cave.

Let your tribe members spread and become the leader of the cave. At that time, as long as you wave your hand, you can pull out tens of thousands of soldiers.

By then, if the government is still strong, then continue to surrender. If the government fails, it is not impossible to become the king by himself.

The imperial court in the Central Plains has changed every few decades, and it has been like this for hundreds of years. Even if prefectures and counties are set up here, the local wealthy families have the final say. Therefore, when it comes to changing dynasties, there are great opportunities for themselves or their descendants.

The Lord of the Cave who figured this out was very active in being a hawk for the government. He ran to the city when he had time, and first, to do business, and second, to see what he had to do.

Drink good wine by the way.

After drinking for several rounds, the several cave lords were flushed with their faces. Seeing that they were not speaking properly, Chen Dading quickly asked his followers to come in and helped their cave lords to rest.

Looking at the mess on the food table and thinking about today's business, Chen Dading's mood became better and better.

Of course he didn't know what these gangs of Zidong Lords were thinking, but he could guess it.

No one is willing to be a dog or run errands at risk unless there are huge benefits.

For example, he, a man named Chen, started shipping and made a living on the water. He ran to the west of Lingnan to do business without fear of difficulties, in order to make huge profits.

I bought salt and iron tools at a low price in Guangzhou and transported them to Yushui by steamships and sold along the coast of Tanshui. It was several times the profit. However, the Shengkou exchanged from the lords of the cave was resold to the plantation on the spot, which was another layer of profit.

Plantations mostly use sugar as payment for goods. When sugar is produced in the autumn and winter season, they use the delivered sugar to sell it, which is another layer of profit.

In this kind of transaction, the profit is no less than that of sea trade, and the risk is also smaller. At least when something happens when sailing in the river, he will be able to swim ashore even if his surname is Chen.

It is natural for merchants to speak profit. As for the fact that these cave masters are so keen to be hawks for the government, Chen Dading thinks that not all of them are honest people.

However, since the official army cannot resist iron tools, they will not be afraid of these men rebelling. After all, there are artillery in hand. Even if the cave soldiers are large, if they dare to appear on the plains, the official army's artillery is not a vegetarian.

No, if there are really chaos, the "righteous soldiers" will come first, and there is no need for the official army to take action.

Thinking of this, Chen Dading raised his eyebrows and walked out of the room.

Looking at the steamship berthing on the pier outside, it was like looking at treasures.

Steamer ships are good things. Although buying a ship is not cheap, with this coal-burning ship, the shipping cost has dropped significantly, and the money you buy a ship can be made back soon.

From Guangzhou to Yanzhou, the waterway is nearly 2,000 miles away. If you rely on traditional sailing boats, it is not impossible to come, but the transportation cost against the current will be very high and the profit will be diluted.

With a steamship, it is different. Although burning coal is also a cost, it saves manpower, time and cargo capacity. It is simply a powerful tool to make money while ensuring the supply of coal.

By shipping by steamships, salt and ironware from Guangzhou can be sold on Lingnan West Road on a large scale. Merchants make money by making money, and the government also makes profits.

In order to exchange for more salt, ironware and daily necessities, the owners of various places in the cave must be inclined to attack more cave villages and catch Shengkou and expand their territory.

This will save you from the fatigue of the government army to "removal of weeds". With sufficient slave labor in various plantations, the speed of land reclamation will be faster.

By buying salt and iron tools, Dongzhai, which has accumulated strength by catching raw mouths, will inevitably choose to open up land and build villages on flat land. Over time, villages and large areas of fertile land will be available.

This is also good. The government army will bring cannons to the door, determine household registration, and check the land and collect taxes.

Don’t follow? After a few shots, everything was purged. Many people rushed to plant the cultivated fertile fields.

If the lords of the cave are reluctant to give up their family business and choose to surrender, accept government management and taxation, then the government can raise more soldiers and settle more immigrants with a steady increase in taxes.

With more and more villages, more and more fields, more and more plantations, more and more immigrants will settle down, and more and more people from the cave become good people, so new prefectures and counties will be famous and practical.

With more fields, more people are raised and more popular, so when you do normal trading, the profits are also good.

Therefore, the iron trading that has been strictly regulated in all dynasties really doesn’t matter now.
Chapter completed!