Ming Zuo

Chapter 724 Advantages
The barrier of the Yangtze River is not absolute.

It's just that the north and south are separated, but the east and west are still unimpeded.

In other words, the new army only forbids cross-strait exchanges, but does not interfere with commerce and trade within the south of the Yangtze River.

A fleet came meandering from the west, and it was too late to see warships densely scattered on the river when they got close.

Seeing the instructions on the ship here and the black hole in the muzzle, the fleet could only approach slowly.

Zuo Hua was on the first boat, and when he saw the panicked look of the visitor, he smiled.

It's okay if he doesn't smile.

This smile almost didn't scare the other party to death.

If a one-eyed dragon with a sturdy face laughed, the picture shouldn't be too scary.

"Where are you from?"

The other side was polite when they saw these strangely dressed troops, and managed to calm down.

"We came from Sichuan and passed through Wuhu. We want to go to the south of the Yangtze River to do some small business, so please be kind to the military master."

Hearing that the fleet came from Sichuan, Zuo Hua became interested.

"This road is not close. What are you selling, can you get back your money after traveling so far?"

The businessman was all smiles, trying to hide it.

"Hehe, small business, small business."

As he spoke, he took out two silver ingots from his sleeve, and was about to stuff them into Zuo Hua's hands, obviously intending to bribe them.

Zuo Hua didn't answer, but just asked, "Do you know who we are?"

The other party was dripping with cold sweat and could only shake his head.

Xin said that this time it was bad luck, and he didn't look at the almanac when he went out, and he looked like he was about to bleed heavily.

"We are the Shandong New Army, and now we are taking over the Yangtze River. All ships that pass by here must obtain our consent."

"Ah, you guys are against..."

The other party was not stupid, so he quickly changed his words halfway through.

"So it's the uncle from Shandong!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Zuo Hua scolded with a smile.

"I am Zuo Hua, Minister of the Navy Department of Shandong Province. Tell me the truth. Why did you come here?"

Seeing that the other party was in a daze, it was obvious that he didn't know what official position the minister was.

Zuo Hua further explained: "The minister is equivalent to the minister of the imperial court. I am the minister of the Navy Department, just like the minister of the military department of the imperial court."

Only then did the other party understand, and quickly bowed down.

"It's a great fortune for the young one to meet the great Sima in Wuhu."

Zuo Hua casually reached out his hand and picked up the short businessman.

"In my Shandong province, there is no need to kneel and worship. But you need to be honest about what kind of business this trip is for. Otherwise, I will search it myself. Once you find something that violates the rules, don't blame me for not being sympathetic. .”

Seeing that Zuo Huali didn't accept him, and his attitude was tough, the other party really had no choice but to confess.

"The young ones are indeed from Sichuan, and they are doing the business of Shu brocade."

Zuo Hua didn't know what Shu brocade was, so he ordered: "Bring it to me."

The other party had no choice but to ask the servant to fetch two bolts of cloth and come back.

When he really saw the real thing, Zuo Hua's eyes straightened.

"This kind of precious thing is definitely not something that ordinary businessmen can manage. Who are you?"

The cloth Zuo Hua saw was as bright as spring flowers, as soft as a beautiful woman's cream, with magnificent and luxurious patterns and exquisite weaving.

Even if he doesn't know anything about weaving, he still knows that this kind of cloth is rare.

Faced with Zuo Hua's persecution, the other party had no choice but to tell the whole story.

"The younger one's name is Zheng Sangui. His family used to be a cloth merchant in the palace of the king of Shu, and he specialized in the cloth business for the palace of the king of Shu. Because of the trustworthiness of the king of Shu and his clear understanding of the way, his family also ran a little business. This time, he came to the east because he wanted to Sell ​​some Shu brocades to Jiangnan."

As soon as Zuo Hua heard it, he understood that this Zheng Sangui obviously made some good things for private profit by doing things for the Shu Palace.

To put it bluntly, this guy is a big mouse thief.

But since what was stolen was from the Shu Palace, Zuo Hua didn't care about it.

The vassal princes of Ming Dynasty were even worse.

Looking at the exceptionally exquisite Shu brocade, even he was a little moved.

If this kind of thing is sold to the south of the Yangtze River, there is absolutely no need to worry about selling it.

But there is no such kind of cloth in Shandong, and this business can be done.

He said to Zheng Sangui: "If you want to sell cloth in the south of the Yangtze River, you'd better go to Songjiang Mansion. Now Songjiang Mansion is under my jurisdiction in Shandong, and it treats merchants well. You won't be embarrassed when you go there, and your business will be much easier. .”

Zheng Sangui couldn't tell whether his words were true or not, so he could only agree with them.What I want is to get away from these weird Qiu Ba as soon as possible, the most important thing is to save my life.

But Zuo Hua's next words immediately woke up Zheng Sangui on the spot.

"From here to Songjiang Mansion, there are no checkpoints along the way, and no one will stop tax collection. When you arrive at Songjiang Mansion, you only need to pay [-] yuan of tax to trade on your own. If you can't find a seller, the local government will help."

Zheng Sangui didn't care about being afraid, and hurriedly asked: "Master Sima, did you really stop collecting money here in the past?"

What frustrates Zheng Sangui the most when he goes out to do business is that there are many checkpoints along the way and payment of fees is endless.

If you can't walk a few hundred miles, you have to pay once, and you have to be blackmailed by officials and evil officials, which is really expensive.

Hearing that tolls are not charged here, Zheng Sangui seemed to have heard a scripture from heaven.

Zuo Hua bluffed, very unhappy.

"I'm an imposing Minister of the Navy, can I still deceive you, a small businessman? Now all the river from here to the east is under the jurisdiction of my new army. If I say no fee, who would dare to accept it?"

"Yes, yes, Master Sima is a star of martial arts who came to the world. He promises what he says, and he says what he says. The little ones are doing business here, and Master Sima is looking after them. I am really grateful."

Of course, Zuo Hua didn't talk so much nonsense with a small businessman on a whim.

After the navy took control of the Yangtze River to the east of Wuhu, it still had another important task, which was to promote commercial exchanges.

Shandong's occupation of Songjiang Mansion did not intend to isolate Songjiang Mansion from the world and separate it from the Jiangnan area.

The most important thing for a commercial society is to be open.

Zuo Menggeng is confident that with Shandong's support for business, he will definitely have an advantage over other places in Daming.

Businessmen in this era, as long as they have traveled to Shandong once, they will definitely feel the goodness of Shandong.

And these people will definitely be the help of Shandong when it unifies the world in the future.

That's why Zuo Hua, the great minister, came to the front line in person, talked with the merchants, and guided them to Songjiang Mansion to do business.

Zheng Sangui is one of them.

After learning about the situation in Songjiang Mansion from Zuo Hua, he gritted his teeth, suppressed his fear, and led the fleet to the east.

Those who dare to play tricks under the eyes of the Prince of Shu's mansion are naturally quite courageous.

In order to make money, Zheng Sangui chose to take risks.

Five days later, Zheng Sangui and his party arrived in Songjiang Mansion smoothly.

And along the way, just as Zuo Hua said, there was no card blocking fee.The cost saved by this alone is already very gratifying.

At the mouth of the Wusong River, the fleet turned around.

As a result, a mighty fleet also came from the east.

Both sides turned into the Huangpu River at the same time, and when they approached, Zheng Sangui finally saw the situation on the opposite side clearly.

With just one glance, he was startled with an "ouch", and his legs went limp.

It was quite strange to see a few ships on the opposite side, and the people on board were blond and blue-eyed, covered with thick hair, wearing silver-white high-top military helmets, like ghosts.

(End of this chapter)