Just like the rumors, Shanghai's commercial market is very hot, with large shipments of all kinds of goods and more buyers. From the north, the south, upstream, overseas, all kinds of industries, as long as they have circulation value

Products can be purchased here.

The market for cotton cloth is even more popular. The turn of autumn and winter is also the season when bulk commodity transactions are frequent. Cotton cloth is also the most mainstream commodity on the market, accounting for almost 30% to 40%. Walking for miles along both sides of the Songjiang River, you can see everywhere.

It was the sound of cotton trading, and scenes of loading and unloading of cotton products were everywhere.

In such a lively atmosphere, Cao Yong naturally had the urge to do something big. However, the process of purchasing goods was not smooth, and he encountered two main problems.

One is that there are so many varieties of goods in Shanghai that it’s dizzying. They come from Xiuzhou, Suzhou, and other areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Even cloth from Guangnan East Road is shipped to Shanghai in one boat after another. In addition to the variety, there are also

We have to face selection issues such as old and new, materials, workmanship, etc. Cloths made from the same product in Xiuzhou, but made by different factories and using different textile machines, are very different.

After working in the Shanghai market for more than half a month, Cao Yong just got a first glimpse of the inside track. His confidence and experience, which he had gained from working in Gyeonggi Yahang and working in major markets for several years, were shattered here in Shanghai. In his opinion,

, there is something strange about this Shanghai market, it stands out strangely, but I can’t tell where it is. It can’t be explained by a simple “strong business atmosphere”.

Of course, in the hot market atmosphere, the details that Cao Yong is worried about are nothing at all. The market situation is in short supply, and cargo owners only need to be more patient to avoid being unable to sell.

Therefore, compared with being entangled in the details of the cotton goods themselves, the second problem was the most difficult for Cao Yong. He found that the 80 guan of money he had prepared for bankruptcies and loans before going south was somewhat missing. He invested it in the Shanghai market.

Not even a splash of water could be made.

In Luoyang, the price of high-quality cotton cloth is generally 270-300 yuan per piece, and even the inferior ones are difficult to fall below 250 yuan. Cao Yong did not know the price in Henan and Hebei production areas, but here in Shanghai

The price of cloth, especially the cloth produced in Suzhou and Xiuzhou, is really attractive.

There were so many high-quality cotton cloths that only cost 130-150 yuan per piece. Even if it was operated by a big merchant, the price was too low. After some careful struggle and hesitation, Cao Yong finally made the move.

After selecting the target, Cao Yong directly took out the life money that he had hidden all the way. They were lucky. They had been cautious and kept a low profile, pretending to be embarrassed. They were even more picky about food and accommodation, highlighting the hard work of starting a business.

Being targeted by bad guys.

You must know that although the public security conditions in the Han Dynasty are good today, this good situation is basically only for towns. In places where the violent authority of the government can reach, outside the towns and in the wilderness, any kind of accidents may happen.

Therefore, in this era, those who dare to go out to do business are ruthless people. No one can develop and grow by relying on luck alone. Those successful "righteous businessmen" may have corpses at their feet and no one knows how much blood is on their hands.

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Cao Yong was engaged in the "tooth" business in the car and boat shop before, and he was very aware of the dangers behind it. When he boarded the boat, he also took a boat under the Central Plains Boat Gang system, because he took a fancy to their power and "reputation" in the industry.

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But even so, there are countless merchants who choose to come to Shanghai to purchase goods like Cao Yong, and they encounter accidents on the way. When an accident occurs, there is usually only one ending: the family is ruined, even if it looks relatively simple.

A prosperous merchant loses his money and his life, all of the same nature.

Just when Cao Yong was looking for the source of goods in Shanghai, a major case occurred. A spice merchant from Hubei was robbed. Not only was the payment of more than 300 guan lost, but two of the clerks died. Shanghai police officer, Songjiang

The patrolmen and local gangs mobilized collectively and quickly found the robbers, a group of tough gangsters from Jiangbei. However, in the end, only a dozen coins were recovered, and the local gang laughed them off as "hard work money."

The officers and sailors also received awards for defeating a group of criminal thieves.

As for the Hubei merchant, he jumped to the Songjiang River and died soon after. Then a group of five people came, and only two guys returned with three corpses.

Although from an overall perspective, such situations are relatively rare and are considered low-probability events. However, when such low-probability events happen to ordinary business people, they are an unbearable burden in life, career, and family.

As the imperial court gradually relaxed its approach to business, too many people raised objections. They felt that merchants who smelled of copper were only interested in profit and corrupted the social atmosphere. At the same time, they were worried that everyone engaging in business would affect social production and be detrimental to social security.

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But in fact, doing business, especially those who run business outside, face risks far beyond what others imagine, and it is really not something ordinary civilians can do. And taking such a big risk and making some high profits seems not so

It's hard to understand, otherwise, who would risk their families and lives to engage in such a business.

When Cao Yong was in Beijing, he still vowed to fight for wealth even if he risked his life. However, after this business trip, he realized that his previous considerations were still too simple.

The experiences in Gyeonggi Province are treacherous and people are sinister. The experience there does not seem to apply to Shanghai's rough rivers and lakes and bloody fights. The rules here are obviously different. More than 30 years since the establishment of the port, it is still developing rapidly. Everything

They all exude a sense of recklessness, and everyone and everything seems to be growing barbarically.

Therefore, I have to mention again that Cao Yong and his party are really lucky.

I took out 55 guan at one time and used it all to buy cotton cloth. At the price of 115 guan a piece, I bought 480 pieces of cloth. Such a low price, even in a big city like Shanghai, is below the market price. This batch of goods

Obviously there is something special about it. I did not buy it from the cloth shops along the Songjiang River. The source of the goods was a fishery store in the fish shop. When I picked up the goods, I could smell some fishy smell from the cloth.

In almost every city in the Han Dynasty, a guild system has been formed. After many years of development, this system has become quite mature. The major guild forces are tightly organized and hierarchical. They act in unison to the outside world and take advantage of opportunities to make profits.

A lot of profits. Of course, the "share of money" from the government and the powerful cannot be small.

In a place like Shanghai County, where barbarism grows, there are of course various guilds, and the cotton trade is one of the larger ones. However, the organization is much looser. If the contradiction between Su and Xiuzhou is not resolved,

Industrial battles cannot stop.

In addition to the same industry, various types of illegal business activities often occur. It seems reasonable for fishermen to sell fruits and vegetables, to carry out transportation, to solicit customers and to sell silk and cloth. And because of the

It is also normal for some fights and fights to occur between major guilds.

Of course, here, not to mention the situation in the army, nor the place where the fish shop got the cotton cloth, but in Cao Yong's eyes, although it was all old cloth, the texture was good and the quality was good.

The fishy smell is a bit strong, but there are ways to solve it. The most important thing is that it is cheap.

At the same time, there is only one requirement, no bulk cargo around, which couldn't be easier for Cao Yong.

As for the source of the goods, Cao Yong didn't care, or he didn't dare to care. He even knew in his heart that accepting this batch of goods would be taking a risk.

Maybe it came from a bad way, but if it was a regular-priced product, where would he get it, and where would he get the capital ID? And if he didn't take risks and wanted to make huge profits, how could it be possible?

At the same time, the owner of the cargo is full of charisma. Not only does he supply the goods at a low price, but he also generously helps introduce unloading, shipping, and transports nearly 500 pieces of cloth back to Gyeonggi. He only charges 9 guan, which is worth the low shipping fee.

Take a risk.

If it weren't for insufficient funds, Cao Yong even wanted to buy more. Although he didn't go to the warehouse to take a look, judging from the expression of the supplier named Sun, it was less than 500 pieces of cloth and it was just a small business. But there was no way, the rest was

The money has to be used for travel expenses back home, freight, management, and tax can be paid at Luoyang Port.

Cao Yong and his accounting partners have carefully calculated that if everything goes well, they can sell the bulla back to Luoyang, even if it only sells for 250 Wen a piece, including the principal, loan, interest, taxes and all odds and ends.

If you go up, you can earn about 24 pounds.

250 cents is only the most conservative shipping price, and on this basis, every cent higher is nearly half of the money and a net profit!

Such an estimate made Cao Yong particularly excited. Isn't such violence much more profitable than being a dentist in the capital? How many businesses must be introduced, and how big the business must be, to earn such a high commission.

Of course, there are many reasons why such a high profit can be calculated. One is of course the hard work and risk of going back and forth, which of course every businessman must bear;

The second is the purchase price of 115 yuan, which is so low that it makes people feel dreamy;

The third is the imperial court's policy support for the cotton cloth business, which is mainly reflected in taxation. In order to encourage the development of the textile industry and strive to solve the clothing problem of the Han people, in the cloth trade, especially the cotton cloth trade, in every circulation link, only

The five percent tax is already very favorable compared to other products.

Of course, excitement cannot last long before the profits are realized, especially for people like Cao Yong who have seen the world and have further glimpsed the sinister side of the mall. They dare not make any mistakes before they are safe.

main idea.

Until the autumn and September of the fourth year of Yongxi's reign, when a 500-ton cargo ship named "Tieli", loaded with spices and Cao Yong's 480 pieces of cloth, changed its route through Songjiangkou, entered the Yangtze River westward, and embarked on its journey to Luoyang,

Cao Yong just breathed a sigh of relief.

What reassured him more was that the boss of the ship and the dozens of sailors on the ship didn't look like good men, and they were all very fierce. But that was why he felt at ease. Without these, he would have to always worry about sustenance.

It's something that is worth your life.

At the same time, Cao Yong couldn't help but wonder, that ship of spices was much more valuable than his cloth, and the cloth still took up space. Why was the ship owner willing to help him transport the goods at such a low price?

It has to be said that Cao Yong still has the most basic sense of smell of a reckless businessman. Whether he is the boss of supply or the boss of the ship responsible for delivery, it is obviously not as simple as the identity presented on the surface.

What Cao Yong didn't know was that someone on the boat had been silently observing and testing him during the journey back north.

With the rise of overseas trade, there have been frequent activities in the waters around the Han Dynasty. Countless ships loaded with goods come and go every year, and some of them can successfully realize the foreign exchanges of the Han Dynasty.

In addition, some ships were destroyed and people died, and the wealth was buried in the deep sea, and some appeared on the market in another form. The goods purchased by Cao Yong most likely also had a "special" experience.

The barbaric development of Shanghai County is reflected in all aspects. Behind all kinds of transactions under the sun, there are also countless black market transactions. There are too many goods, materials, weapons and even rare treasures of unknown origin that need to be dealt with.

In the underground transactions in Shanghai County, over the years, a set of import and export rules have of course been formed, but people in various links in the deep interest chain may not be satisfied with that kind of interest distribution.

Therefore, it is normal to have some actions to seek breakthroughs. It just so happened that Cao Yong happened to be a small businessman from Gyeonggi Province.

The return journey was smoother than expected. Unfortunately, we had to disembark the ship in Kaifeng to unload the cargo. There was no other way. The flood season of the Yellow River had not yet passed and the water was a bit strong, which seriously affected the sailing. The ship owner was not willing to take risks.

The destination of the cargo owner is Tokyo, and he has already sent people to wait to pick up the cargo. Even though he is a ship boss, he would not dare to offend someone as reckless as he is. After all, he still wants to run this channel.

Compared with cloth, the profits from spices are still at a high point in the Han Dynasty, especially in cities like Liangjing. Cao Yong worked hard and took risks to sell the cloth, but the profits he earned may not be as good as others.

A fraction of the ship's spices, but the world is so unfair, and some things are unenviable.

There was no other way, Cao Yong could only unload the goods in Tokyo, find another man and vehicle, and prepare to transport it to Luoyang. People in Tongdong suggested selling the goods in Tokyo, but Cao Yong rejected it after careful consideration.

Of course, the market in Tokyo cannot be weaker than Xijing, but this is not their home field after all. Moreover, Kaifeng City has more sources of goods, more convenient transportation, and closer distances. As a result, the price of cotton cloth in Kaifeng is much lower than that in Luoyang.

Quite a few. In fact, many cloth merchants can make money just by running the line between Beijing and Beijing.

On the other hand, Cao Yong took into account the agreed recipient in Xijing and ran the goods for the first time. He would never break his promise unless necessary.

So, after another round of troubles, Cao Yong hired ten large trucks and set off from Kaifeng to Luoyang. Unlike other places, the public security environment between the two capitals was much better, and groups of caravans were rarely captured.

In terms of robbery, a pile of cloth like this doesn't have much value in robbery, and it is troublesome to deal with it.

At the same time, there is a "high-speed straight road" between the two Beijings. The mountains, rivers and rivers along the way are connected by roads and bridges. There are almost no setbacks like "transfers", which is very convenient.

Of course, it was Cao Yong who was relatively thoughtful and did not burn out all the ammunition when he was in Shanghai County. The additional transportation cost was still enough to support it.
To be continued...