"Not all, I see that some parts of the empire are still prosperous, but they are too far from our imperial capital, which is not very convenient. If not, I would have gone there to take a look." The rat-bearded merchant was a little dissatisfied with the other party's opinion, so he shook the satin folding fan again, "Look at Guanxi, look at Tiannan, and look at Myanmar land, damn, Jiangnan merchants are really smart enough, and rushed into Tiannan and Guanxi in swarms. Now they are hungry dogs rushing into Myanmar land like food. The entire empire is probably only peaceful in the west. The remote land that was disdainful in the past has now become a hot commodity for everyone to compete for. The world has really changed."

"Well, then, don't you see who is in charge of the country in the west? There is the king of Yumeng who is in charge there. No one can ask for trouble if they want to cause trouble. Whether it is Kaman butcher, Maqihan devil, Taiping Sect plague god, who has not capsized under him? Now the merchants in the northwest come to the imperial capital, and they are full of chests and belly-sagging and arrogant. When they ask, they are all whispering, they are bald, and they come from the northwest. What's wrong? Look at the momentum, it seems to be superior to others. I see the rest.

The merchants from the region were jealous. "The yellow-faced merchant looked envious, but lowered his voice, "I heard that Lord Li Wufeng and Lord Li have always been very lenient to merchants. Merchants can still be officials from businessmen, and they also wrote to officials in other regions to protect the merchants in the northwest. Those merchants in the northwest went out with letters issued by the Northwest Economic Development Agency, which required the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of merchants in the northwest at home and abroad. They were thoughtful and thoughtful, regardless of whether they were useful or not."

"How could it be useless? A friend from the northwest of mine is an Indian-German immigrant. He went from the northwest to discuss business with his hometown in India and Germany. He was made difficult and extorted by local officials in Haylum, the capital of Lahore Province in the north of the Tiks. He immediately took out this thing and threatened to find local diplomatic officials. At that time, the official was scared to speak and was busy giving convenience. This is a clear proof." The rat-bearded man immediately gave an example to prove it, "This really makes the power of our empire."

"Hmph, that's not called the power of Chang Empire, it's the power of Chang Northwest. I haven't heard of what Lord Li is called in Indian De'an? Invincible army god! The Tiks were beaten by the Northwest Army. Originally, Lord Li had been staying in Guanxi, but those Tiks were far-fetched and insisted that Lord Li personally led his army to fight, clearly trying to cover his shame for defeating himself. From this, we can also know that Lord Li's reputation in Indian De'an. How could those local officials not be afraid? He can afford to cause trouble?" said the yellow-faced businessman, "But some time ago, the Northwest Army also suffered a loss and was driven out of Pinglu by Kaman butcher. I heard that the battle was dark and the sun and the moon were gone. But in this way, Kaman butcher became even more arrogant. Otherwise, how could he occupy Heishan and Longquan again?"

"Oh, let's not worry about the Kamans. Anyway, the empire still has hundreds of thousands of troops guarding the west, and the Kamans will never be able to reach the imperial capital for a while. What we need to consider now is business. If we don't do a few transactions, we will really drink the northwest wind. I got the news that the production of indigo in Tianshui and Longdong has basically recovered. I heard that the production of safflower cakes is still expanding, and those production workshops have increased their power to produce. Now the situation in Heshuo is in chaos, and it is not obvious that it is not.

If we dare to go, why don’t we go from Huanggang to Jincheng and then go around Hanzhong. Although the journey is a little longer, we finally have business. Now that the supply of goods in Heshuo is cut off, the price will probably rise. At most, we will add freight to the cost. Maybe we can make two more profits." The rat-bearded merchant finally turned the topic back to the main topic. No matter how much we talk about state affairs, it is vain, and supporting a family is the most realistic. If you don’t do business and have no money to make money, you will really starve to death.

"Oh? The news you got from there? The Taiping Army in Tianshui has just retreated for a short time. Production has resumed so quickly? Is it reliable? If it is unreliable, I would rather go to Yushan. I heard that the situation there has basically returned to peace. The Maqi Khan did not act too much. Recently, the imperial capital cinnabar and Kongqingshi are very pretty. If you can't get indigo and red flower cakes, it's good to get some cinnabar and Kongqingshi." The yellow-faced businessman asked in surprise. He did not expect that his business partner would have such a good news.

"Hehe, I guarantee that there is no problem. I heard this in Shuiyue Tower. Last night, I happened to meet a friend who came from Tianshui. He came to the imperial capital to purchase goods. I asked about the situation in Longdong and Tianshui. He said that the Taiping Army could not enter the city, and Tianshui had little impact. Moreover, the food supply there was sufficient, so production recovered quickly, but we had to detour to Jincheng." The rat-bearded merchant replied with a little embarrassed.

While the two dye merchants were arguing about their business, several people in the elegant room on the third floor above their heads were also pacing anxiously, as if waiting for someone.

"Why haven't you come yet? Didn't you agree to this time?" The thirty-year-old man picked up the teacup and put it down with some impatientness.

"Three, don't be too dry. If you want to do things, you have to be patient. Although the imperial capital is now in chaos, the people in the internal affairs department are still very responsible. The other party doesn't want the internal affairs department to investigate. We have to make this decision. To be honest, I have no idea." The middle-aged man sitting next to him had his eyes shining and his temples were bulging, but his face was calm and leisurely, with a bit of a demeanor.

"Hmph, that's not our fault. Since His Highness gave the Du family the route to Luyang and Pengcheng, it is obvious that we don't regard our boat gang as our own family. Why should we work hard for him? Just from the waterway from Jinzhong to the imperial capital, the water is so shallow and the big boat cannot be used. How can we still support people?" Another young man said angrily, "Now, there are more and more people in the gang's hometowns, and they are all poor people who can't afford to eat. If you don't accept it, it's unreasonable to accept it. It's difficult for us to support ourselves now. How can we afford to support ourselves?"

The man sitting aside did not speak up, but was carefully estimating what this meeting would bring to the Boat Gang. He originally thought that since His Highness had taken over the entire East China Sea, the Boat Gang originally controlled a considerable part of the water transportation business from Jinzhong to Luyang. If he could also bring part of the water transportation business in Pengcheng or even Jinling, the Boat Gang's life would be much more prosperous. Even now, due to severe drought, many children from the hometown came to work.

He agreed, but he did not expect that the Highness would abandon his own gang and hand over the water transportation concession from Luyang through Pengcheng to Jinling to the Du family in the East China Sea. This was an insult. His group of people worked hard to work hard for him but ended up like this. This tone made Liang Cheng unable to bear it. Moreover, even if he tolerated, he accepted so many children from his hometown of Jinzhong. His business not only did not expand, but instead shrank. How could he live such a life?

Since the water transportation business goes east without hope, the boat gang that lives on the waterway of the Fanjiang River can only develop towards the upper reaches of the Fanjiang River. However, the Heshuo area in the upper reaches is in chaos. It is probably not easy for him to gain a foothold in Hejian and Tianshui, so he thought of finding a new backer. Heshuo is already in chaos, and the rule of Taiping Cult here is obviously impossible for the Taiping Cult to last for a long time, especially in this year of famine and famine, the Taiping Cult, which has no foundation, is even more impossible to sit firmly in this country. The Kaman people don’t seem to have much interest in Longquan and Heishan, otherwise they would not have taken such extreme measures. Although the boat gang is in trouble, it is impossible for the Jianghu gang to defect to the alien race. The only hope is to the west.

Seeing that his elder brother fell into deep thought, several people standing beside him were silent for a moment and did not dare to disturb his elder brother's thinking. It was not easy for the boat gang to reach this point today, and it also required caution to make a choice, especially this choice that would determine the fate of the entire gang requires thinking twice before taking action.

"Brother, if the other party agreed to us today? What should we do in the alliance? The Sunset Sect will not be able to detect an abnormality in the future. Fu Jian will not sit still." Another thin middle-aged man sat in the corner, smoking a cigarette puff while speaking.

"Second brother, why do you care about breaking the alliance? Damn, his Sunset Sect has the support of His Highness, and it is popular and spicy. How can you care about us? It's better if we don't participate in this alliance, it doesn't bring much benefits to our ship gang anyway. Apart from working for it for free, I don't think this Lao Shizi Alliance will be of great help to our ship gang. You can't even have to eat and have to flap the flag for them?" The young man gritted his teeth and gritted his teeth.

"You can't say that. Your Highness is very powerful now and has this advantage in Jiangnan. You may not be allowed to do it today's emperor. We will go to the end. Once the sky changes, we will really have no way out." The middle-aged little man called the second brother exhaled a smoke ring with a gloomy face.

"No matter who he is the emperor, more than a thousand brothers in our boat gang have to make a living. Now your highness is clearly going to sacrifice our boat gang's interests to please the Du family in the East China Sea. You can't let the brothers starve to death, right?" Another young man also interfered.
Chapter completed!