This is October of the seventh year of Yongli. Zheng Chenggong was born in the fourth year of Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty. Now he is only twenty-nine years old. Before he could stand, in Chen Wen's era, there were many people who were still dependent on his parents at this age, but it was the eighth year that he fought desperately with the Qing Dynasty on the coast of Fujian and Guangdong. It can even be said that his entire life was spent in the battle between the Qing Dynasty.

In fact, in the middle and late Southern Ming Dynasty, the leaders of several more active anti-Qing forces were actually not very old. Zheng Chenggong is now twenty-nine years old, Li Dingguo is thirty-three, and Zhang Huangyan is also thirty-three. Sun Kewang is slightly older than Li Dingguo, and not much. After Chen Wen graduated, he worked in several companies for a few years, and it has been three years since he came to this era. He is a little older than Zheng Chenggong. Although few people have grown up, he can barely deserve the word "kindness".

Zheng Chenggong's letters were all praising Chen Wen's military methods, and he was optimistic about the prospects of trade cooperation between the Ming army in Zhejiang and the Ming army in Fujian. In addition, no other mentions, whether it is maritime trade or joint forces.

In the sea trade, Zheng Chenggong granted Zheng Tai full power, which was a good idea. However, in the southeast battlefield, the Qing army has turned into the defensive position. Chen Wen himself lacks strength. If the two can join forces, not to mention other places, just relying on the Jingnan Fan Geng family and the Fujian green camps, the eight Fujian lands could last for more than half a year. However, Chen Wen is now independently under the pressure on Jiangxi and Hangzhou. Without the cooperation of the Ming army in Fujian, it would be impossible to enter rashly. However, Zheng Chenggong's letter did not mention joint combat, and there was no temptation. The implicit meaning behind it was obvious.

After reading the letter, Chen Wen remained calm and continued to discuss trade with Zheng Tai. Zheng Tai is here to start trade between the two sides. The last time he had already negotiated, he would naturally have to use this formal transaction.

"Brother, those prisoners of the Eight Banners of the Han Army have been in prison for a long time, and their bodies may not be as good as those a few months ago. But I can guarantee that these people will be transported over, eat and drink, and then exercise hard, and it won't take long to restore their old views."

In order to prevent trouble, it is normal for prisoners to not give them food. Even if a deal is made, Chen Wen cannot let them eat. After all, they were brave men of the Eight Banners of the Han army, which came to two thousand. The riots were extremely unfavorable to the Ming army in Zhejiang. Zheng Tai agreed with Chen Wen's statement and said that they would transport them away with sea boats, and they would give them as much money as they were sent. Even if they died at sea, the Ming army in Fujian would bear the losses.

A duke and a marquis simply used the tone of trading animals to completely finalize the fate of the captives of the Eight Banners of the Han army, and along with artillery and a gifted artillery team.

The general Han army's Eight Banners prisoners sold to Zheng Chenggong in total 2,423 people, each of which was calculated at fifty taels of silver, totaling 121,150 taels of silver. This number made Chen Wen begin to doubt what the profit would be in the triangular trade in this era from Africa to America and then to Europe. However, after calculating the artillery matters, Chen Wen discovered that the profit margin of technicians who made high-tech products and sold them seemed to be much higher than that of simple sales personnel, so he no longer considered these boring things.

The cannons were equipped with a free cannon group, and the specifications were all calibers that Chen Wen could make. He was unwilling to retrain the cannon group for the old cannons, and he believed that the price of these eight banners of the Han army was very cheap to sell to Zheng Chenggong. But even so, the transaction volume was still reached as high as 115,000 taels. If all the bird guns and cold weapons were included, this time, the two crimes of buying and selling population and weapons, which were 100% guns in later generations, would have provided Chen Wen with nearly 400,000 taels of silver!

What does it mean to have more than 300,000 or 400,000 taels of silver? When the Lu Jian State's imperial court first began, Zhejiang East threw away the territory of the seven prefectures outside Quzhou, which belonged to the Longwu Dynasty, and the annual tax on Dingyin land was not twice that of this number, only more than 600,000 taels of silver.

Chen Wen's occupied area now does not have Ning Shao, but there is a Quzhou. Due to the existence of the blockade order, the commercial tax was greatly reduced. The two taxes in summer and autumn in the year were not yet reached 600,000 taels. It was all up to the aftermath, the acquisition of the capitulation and the horses and Jinbao. Chen Jin's local tyrants confiscated the property of Qing officials, cracked down on bad gentry and external support, and finally managed to hold on. But even so, the 20,000 army was the limit without Taiwan and Wenzhou.

Chen Wen's situation is a typical example of relying on inland agriculture to support the army, and the size of the army is proportional to the amount of land. Like Zheng Chenggong, a series of Fujian and Guangdong coastal areas have almost no agriculture, and handicraft islands are completely different from the tolls in the Taiwan Strait.

Now that he has an outlet, although he was not as good as the 170,000 auxiliary soldiers in the 13th year of Yongli, he was unable to compare with the Northern Expedition of Nanjing, but he was not as good as the top and the bottom. The income of the salt course and the market would allow him to obtain a large amount of silver. Chen Wen also planned to expand his trade routes to Japan, North Korea and Ryukyu to earn more wealth.

In time, relying on the strong agricultural foundation brought by military merits and field teaching system, the sufficient human resources brought by deep inland, and the Shanghai trade and commercial taxation will have a foundation that is much solider than Zheng Chenggong. It is not difficult to resist heavy pressure in several aspects, and there will be no embarrassment like Nanjing's crushing defeat in the battle, which will almost completely lose the ability to recover lost land on a large scale.

This time, in addition to these illegal and criminal activities, Zheng Tai will also purchase a large number of cloth, silk, silk, medicinal materials and specialties in Zhejiang. Apart from Chen Wen's clear statement that he had not used enough food for his own use, the others will be large-scale transactions. Some will be purchased by the government from military households, and some will be sold by merchants on their own. The only thing that makes Chen Wen interesting is that Zheng Tai's purchase of goods has a large amount of Jinhua ham in the list of purchases, and the purchase quantity is so large. Anyway, Chen Wen doesn't believe that these are as simple as Zheng Tai takes them back and eat them himself, or giving them to others.

Since there was no logistics system for later generations in this era, nor did it transmit means such as wire, radio, and network. Zheng Tai's fleet was stationed in Sanpan and Haimen. After Chen Wen ordered the government to promote it, merchants who were interested in selling goods and purchasing goods would go to two places to trade. The government also set up a yamen for the tutoring of the Maritime Warehouse here to collect taxes.

The commercial income is long-term and the quantity is also huge. Compared with the previous reliance on Ding Yin’s land tax and abnormal means to obtain military supplies, it will greatly improve the ability of Zhejiang Ming Army to support the army. However, this book also requires a process, and long-term accumulation is not achieved overnight. The reason why this can make a quick profit is because Chen Wen and Zheng Tai have already agreed, so this is the case.

For Chen Wen, the goods produced by Zhejiang, such as population, weapons, cloth, and specialties, are all trade exports, and they will receive silver. Chen Wen also needs Fujian's sea ships, warships, books, large-caliber artillery and machinery obtained through trade with European maritime merchants.

Zheng Tai did not bring warships and sea ships this time because the fleet that came with him would be used to transport these bulk goods back to Fujian, and they could only be delivered after the goods were transported. However, Zheng Chenggong had already found the books and translations and transported them with the ship.

"Brother Yu and Damu's cousin, Zheng Qi and Fu Ren should still have an impression."

When he saw the translator with his own eyes, Chen Wen was stunned at first. He thought that Zheng Chenggong would find a European to act as a translator, but who would have thought that it would be his cousin, which was beyond his expectations. But if you think about it carefully, the maritime merchants were the group that China came into contact with Europe in this era. The Zheng family in Shijing, Nan'an, was running around the sea since Zheng Mian, Yinshi Gong. The accumulation of more than ten generations broke out completely when Zheng Zhilong was alive, but talents often walked ahead.

For example, Zheng Zhilong is proficient in Japanese and Dutch, and can speak Portuguese. He learned swordsmanship in Japan, entered Catholicism in Macau, and worked as a translator and a professional for the Dutch. He followed Li Dan and Yan Siqi one after another. He established his own business with Shibazhi, and grew from a small pirate to a warlord who has a direction of rewriting Chinese history. His life experience was extremely legendary. If it weren't for the stain on the Qing Dynasty, perhaps later film and television dramas would have taken him as the protagonist.

Nowadays, a talent who is proficient in multiple languages ​​is probably not too rare for the Zheng family. However, compared to last time, there was more sorrow between the young man's eyebrows, but I don't know why.

……………………

The prefecture of Quzhou Prefecture, a place where merchants who had developed to connect the four provinces, suffered great losses first due to Chen Jin's terror. After the Ming army recovered here, they vigorously restored their economy, but whoever thought that as soon as they recovered, they had ushered in the blockade of the capitals of the four provinces and the service.

Today, Quzhou has seen a sharp decline in trade and trade. After all, the Ming army has only six prefectures, and this is the place close to the intersection. It has been artificially created a blind spot for trade rather than a thoroughfare, so business will naturally be greatly hindered.

In recent months, all the merchants in Quzhou have been running around. After all, they are not willing to live in vain. The overall situation is so good. These merchants are helpless. They rely solely on Yongfeng County, which is controlled by the Jiuxianshan Rebel Army, to smuggle some goods from Jiangxi, in a third-party area, in a very small number, but they are struggling and have no choice.

"Wang Shaodong's family is young but highly valued in integrity. They are really a role model for us. The old Wang family has successors."

"Yes, yes, as far as we know, the Tartars have killed all the people around these six palaces and have to patrol. For the word "reputation", the Wang Shaodong family is not afraid of the Tartars' blade. They come to Quzhou to report the news. It is really courageous."

"It's not just that. Since Huizhou tried to detour Yanzhou, avoiding the real and turning to the virtual, Wang Shaodong's family is clearly both wise and brave."

“…”

The largest restaurant in Quzhou Fucheng, most of the big merchants of the Longyou Business Group at the banquets, but they were not the protagonists of this, and even in recent banquets. Here, a group of big merchants, both young and old, praised a young and old young, to a young and young young man, but this person was not a senior or representative of the Ming army or the Qing Dynasty. Few people even knew about it a few months ago, which was a big anomaly in the Quzhou business district recently.

The young man who was harvesting this series of compliments was Wang Fu, a businessman from Huizhou. That day, he buried the old and young people in the village. He crossed two mountains with the young man and entered the Yanzhou Prefecture controlled by the Ming army in Zhejiang. He was no longer threatened by the Qing army. He sent the young man to Jinhua Prefecture. Seeing him joining the army, Wang Fu rushed to Quzhou.

Instead of coming from Huizhou, he went around for a long time, which really scared his uncle Shi. However, when the middle-aged merchant who had traded with his family for many years heard about Wang Fu's experience along the way, he immediately took him to Quzhou Prefecture City, dragged his relationship to the prefect of Quzhou Prefecture, reported the fact that the Qing army blockade was true, and at the same time, he even introduced him to local merchants, which led to the return of these days.

Credit is the most important thing among ancient Chinese merchants. If a merchant destroys his reputation, no other merchants will be willing to interact with him, which means that he will completely go to this road; but if his reputation is widely distributed and well-known and trusted by everyone, the situation will be completely reversed. If there are some means and vision, a big merchant will appear.

Wang Fu's failure to transport goods was caused by the change of the Qing Dynasty's war strategy in the four southeastern provinces. However, just to prevent the freight from coming, a batch of goods worth only a few hundred taels of silver was willing to come here. In the eyes of these merchants, it was the most obvious manifestation of the word "reputation".

After learning all this, Wang Fu's uncle promoted the matter widely. Soon Wang Fu became a celebrity in Quzhou Prefecture City, especially when he was summoned by Li Ruixin, the general of Quzhou Town, and the report was recognized by the army and the government, local merchants flocked to him and were proud to know him.

In fact, Wang Fu's current reputation has a great relationship with the operation of his Uncle Shi. On the surface, Wang Fu took the risk of sending letters and gained a reputation that values ​​reputation over life, but his Uncle Shi was originally just a low-income businessman. Now, with this matter and the relationship with the Wang family, many local merchants have begun to be willing to cooperate with him. After all, the word "reputation" is from both sides. One side is honest. If the recipient has had many years of business transactions with him, he will definitely be an honest person. Birds of birds of feathers gather together.

After leaving the restaurant, he returned to his uncle's home in Quzhou. He was able to fight with so many big merchants. During this period, the middle-aged businessman was very energetic and was very satisfied with his nephew, hoping that he could live here for a longer period of time.

"My nephew, now the land is blocked, and my friend is the most clever. When I go to Taizhou and walk from the sea, my old friend in Ningbo will definitely try to send his letter to Huizhou, so don't worry."

Wang Fu's uncle had said this to him before, and it was mentioned at the previous banquet, which attracted everyone's compliments and praise. As a businessman, it is normal to stay away from home for a few months, but this time it is different. Wang Fu naturally longs to go home quickly. Even if the situation is so difficult to return home safely, he must repay his safety to not worry his parents, wife and children.

"I thank you for your deceased uncle."

"You are welcome, my nephew is so kind."

As we walked along the way, we blew a little cool breeze and the alcohol was a little upward. Although we used sober soup, the habit of talking too much on weekdays was still fully revealed. We pulled Wang Fu to talk about everything, and we were also full of courage and courage, no longer as timid as before.

"Master, the post sent by Mr. Zhu."

The shopkeeper Zhu who the servant in the family mentioned was a very famous local merchant. He had a lot of trade with the Ming army and the government of Zhejiang, including military supplies such as sulfur and iron ore. The prefects of Quzhou and the military commander department. The major figures of the Military Industry Department would smile when they saw him and called him "Mr. Zhu". They are one of the top figures in the Quzhou business district today.

After receiving the post, the middle-aged businessman originally planned to inform the visitor that the person who came here would come to visit, but after reading it, the drunkenness on his body immediately turned into sweat, and he pulled Wang Fu up and wanted to go out.

"Uncle Shi, is this?"

"My nephew, Mr. Zhu is invited, it's today."

"Now?"

It was getting late here, and the time for sending someone's posts was extremely particular. It was extremely rude to invite someone at a dinner party. The old shopkeeper Zhu had been in the business world for many years and he had seen him not long ago. He was an elder who never puts airs on even the younger generation. How could this happen this time really make Wang Fu puzzled.

No matter how much Wang Fu, the middle-aged businessman guessed some inside information. As a result, when he and Wang Fu arrived, they saw many big merchants in Quzhou, including even a few of them at the banquet tonight, which made him feel a little more confident about those who might.

After treating the people, the old man from the master said, "I'm asking you to come here overnight today. I'm really a cold, but the situation is urgent. I have to invite you guys and young talents from the backbone of our Quzhou businessmen."

All the local merchants here are all local merchants. Wang Fu's uncle was deeply honored to be able to attend such a gathering. When he saw the old man sue for his crime, he was humble with everyone. But unexpectedly, the old man seemed quite anxious, and just stood up and made simple gestures to suppress everyone's politeness.

"I went to visit the Duke of the Mansion today and got the news from the Duke of the Mansion that the Marquis has now been named Duke of Xiu for the Emperor, and the Grand Tutor of Jinhua Sun as the Governor, and the angel will soon arrive in Quzhou to enthrone the Marshal Li as the Earl."

"Congratulate the Duke of the State, the Lord of the Lord, and the Governor of the Sun."

A group of merchants stood up to congratulate, but even the uncle of Wang Fu, who was fortunate to participate in the secret meeting of merchants for the first time, smelled something. Local officials were promoted, as usual, to send gifts. Chen Wen and Sun Yu, who were in charge of the Ming army in Zhejiang, were strictly controlled, but they could not be completely spared. But if it was just this matter, there was no need to call them in such a hurry.

"In addition, Fu Zun also revealed that in Wenzhou, the Zheng family's fleet of Shijing, Nan'an has arrived and needs to purchase a large amount of goods, and it is a long-term transaction. The Fu Ya will make a list tomorrow. You will have some preparations in advance. It is also the Duke, Fu Jun and Fu Zun's love for everyone."

In the eyes of the Ming and Qing armies of Nan'an, the Ming and Ming dynasties, the Fujian Mingjun group headed by Zhu Cheng, the national surname, was the sea merchant family that could not be separated from the Fujian-hailing trade. The fleet of this family arrived in Wenzhou and couldn't help but remind some well-informed people here of the incident when Zheng Tai went to Jinhua to visit Chen Wen a few months ago. It was thought that the trade between the two sides was decided at that time.

The restoration of the two prefectures of Taiwan and Wenzhou was a major event for the Ming army in Zhejiang, and it was a great thing for the merchants in the area occupied by the Ming army, especially the Longyou Business Group, which is now in trouble. Recently, some merchants have begun to try to use the sea outlets of Taizhou and Wenzhou for trade, but most of them are just connected with local maritime merchants. Not to mention that there are only large customers like the Zheng family, I am afraid that the maritime merchants in these two prefectures are far from comparable to the Zheng family's trading capabilities.

Time is money. Now the most well-informed people in these six mansions are the army and government. Their pigeons and fast horses are all unmatched by merchants, which are incomparable to gentry. The merchants respectfully asked the details of the shopkeeper Zhu, especially the tax collection ratio. They were quite satisfied with the question and answer. There was only one thing that was unreasonable, that was, no grain of rice could be sold to the outside.

The masters of this are very clear that the initial military ration purchase of Ming army in Zhejiang relied on grain merchants. Now it has been changed to military households to produce and sell them to ensure that the channels for military ration purchase are no longer controlled by people. The grain merchants were hit hard, and even before the orders of the Qing gentry were issued, they were prepared to raise the price of grain. As soon as the first issue of the Zhejiang Dibao was released, the grain merchants and the gentry behind them were somewhat calmer, but if the merchants were allowed to resell grain to the outside world, the price of grain would inevitably be a chain reaction, which was a major obstacle to the stability of the six prefectures of Taiwan and Wenzhou.

After making up his mind not to touch this bottom line, the merchants hurriedly left after asking for details. On the way back, Wang Fu's uncle Shi was quite excited. Not only was he qualified to participate in the secret meeting of such big merchants, but he also had the opportunity to make a lot of money in the trade with the Zheng family.
Chapter completed!