lady, please calm down

Chapter 405: Cutting out the sores on each other

On May 20th, it was midnight at night.

Coming to Yuanshuizhai in Huainan, hundreds of Zhou soldiers unloaded a large amount of best-selling 'Huai goods' from three cargo ships that had just docked and moved them into the warehouse.

Then, bundles of cotton were rolled and pressed into lengths of three feet in width and height, and carried into the cabin of the cargo ship.

Last year, the crops in Huainan were infected with disease, so they replanted a season of kapok. After the cotton was harvested in the fall, it was exported to Huaibei.

Afterwards, even if the "work expenses" of the officials and military officers who organized the matter were taken into account, the farmers actually made more money than they did in previous years when the weather was good and the weather was good.

In one fell swoop, the people's hearts were stabilized after the disaster.

Therefore, farmers became more enthusiastic about cultivating kapok this year.

Huainan's hydrology and lighting conditions are very suitable for the growth of Kapok.

Officials and military generals can benefit from it, so they are naturally willing to promote it. After the beginning of spring, the cultivated area of ​​​​Copodium has exceeded 200,000 acres.

This year, we are well prepared and the areas with suitable conditions are sowing one month earlier than last year. Therefore, in late May, the first crop of cotton has been picked.

At the end of last year, Zhang Duofu, the former commander of the Yuanshui camp who had just been promoted to the commander of the river patrol navy, laughed so hard when he saw bags of cotton entering the cabin.

These bags of cotton are like ingots of white money!

Compared with the fear of earning some "tolls" in Huaibei before, the money earned now is much more comfortable!

On the bow of the loading Huaibei cargo ship, two clerk-like accountants of a trading company were leading several clerks to inspect the quality, dryness and wetness of the new cotton, weigh it again, and record the numbers.

The Caobang laborers who came with the ship had nothing to do for the time being, so they gathered on the shore to brag and fart out of boredom.

Seeing this, Zhang Duofu greeted him with a smile and said enthusiastically: "Brothers from the Cao Gang, it will take more than an hour to load the goods. A pot of horse meat has just been braised in the tavern in the camp. Why don't you guys go and try it? By the way, A group of girls just came from Luzhou on the flower boat. They all have thin skin and tender meat, and they are very fresh."

Zhang Duofu was a business-minded person. In order to better serve the merchants, he not only built a warehouse, a restaurant, and an inn in the military camp, but also built a special boat for painting and started a leather and meat business.

Opening a store in a military camp is not only an exclusive business, but you don't even have to pay taxes.

Due to the prosperous industry and trade in Huaibei, consumption is naturally higher than in Huainan, especially in the 'service industry'. The price for girls of the same quality is almost three times that in Huainan.

Therefore, laborers and Caobang minions with relatively low incomes in Huaibei like to come to Huainan to pretend to be uncles while they are crossing the river to take goods.

Some of them even exchanged three or two pieces of fruit candy produced in Huaibei for a night of waiting for their sister. It is similar to how American soldiers in later World War II exchanged a piece of chocolate for a Dutch girl's first night after they landed in Europe.

The crushing of productivity is not only reflected in more advanced weapons.

Zhang Duofu is targeting this sinking market.

However, the Caobang men who usually rushed to the flower ship impatiently without even saying hello did not do so this time. Instead, they cautiously looked back at the largest of the three cargo ships.

Zhang Duofu was confused when he saw a bearded man walking out of the cabin. This man obviously heard the conversation outside, waved his hand and said boldly: "Go, you must be back within an hour, don't delay the boat! "

"Hey, thank you, boss."

"Hahaha, Xie Luo stall owner is considerate of the brothers."

This person is none other than Luo Hong, one of the two major Caobang stalls. At that time, Luo Hong and Lin Dali founded Caobang with the support of Chen Chu, and they often helped Huaibei do inconvenient underworld work.

When the Huaibei army was expanding last year, Chen Chu asked the two of them if they wanted to join the Huaibei army.

It's just that both of them were wandering around in the rivers and lakes. After thinking about it for a day, they declined the King of Chu's kindness and said: "Both of us are rough and cannot stand the strict military discipline of the army. If we make a mistake, our future will be ruined." , and it will also harm the prince’s reputation. It’s better to help the prince take charge of this canal gang.”

Chen Chu did not force himself and agreed to their request.

Luo Hong's polite refusal was true. For example, right now, when the Huaibei Army has missions, they are not allowed to engage in prostitution. At least, they don't dare to be as blatant as the Caobang.

Nowadays, there are tens of thousands of Caobang disciples, and their halls are spread all over the north and south of the Huaihe River. Zhang Duofu eats a bowl of rice from the water, and naturally he has met Luo Hong several times.

However, Luo Hong would not easily come to the front line of the leakage. Zhang Duofu was surprised and hurriedly greeted him, "Hey, Luo Stall! I said that I heard the cry of magpies early this morning. It turns out that the stall is coming. !”

Luo Hong was amused by this Zhou officer who looked more like a businessman than a soldier, and said directly: "Commander Zhang will not act in front of me. I am here to escort Chen Sir, cross the river"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Duofu smiled awkwardly and looked back at the military tent with lights on in the distance.

At the end of the day, the night was already deep.

Zhang Duofu accompanied Chen Bokang, the appeasement envoy of Huainan Road Manager, out of the tent. The latter was dressed in a green and gray gown, followed only by Tian Qinghou, who was dressed as a scholar.

At first glance, they look rather like a pair of masters and apprentices traveling.

The three of them walked towards the river in the night, but Zhang Duofu looked worried. Mr. Chen was a local official in Zhou State, and he went to Huaibei in Qi State from time to time. If anyone knew about it, it would be a big trouble.

In order to prevent the news from leaking out, Zhang Duofu did not even inform his subordinates about Mr. Chen's secret mission to Huaibei.

But Luo Hong exposed it with one sentence, which made Zhang Duofu worried that the matter was not confidential.

For Zhang Duofu, Chen Bokang is closer than his biological father!

After Luo Jinyi, the father-in-law of Wanqixi, was killed last year, the officialdom of Huainan was in turmoil. However, Zhang Duofu and Xu Lu cooperated with Mr. Chen to kill Lou Yuxing, the magistrate of Huoqiu County, and put the blame for Luo Jinyi's death on Lou Yuxing. .

Therefore, the two passively formed an offensive and defensive alliance with Chen Bokang.

I have to say that Mr. Chen was really interesting. Not only did he lead the two men to deal with the investigation from above, but he and Xu Lu were promoted to commanders of the first army.

If they only had the kindness of knowing each other, they would not regard Chen Bokang as their reborn parents.

The key point is that Chen Bokang also straightened out the process of leaking ships to Huaibei, which not only allowed the military villages along the river to obtain far greater benefits than before, but also invisibly resolved the conflicts that arose between the villages in competing for customers.

In the past, goods were sold from Huaibei to Huainan. Now, Mr. Chen’s promotion of kapok cultivation has given Huainan a competitive product that can be exported to Huaibei.

This is all for Tianliang’s benefit!

Naturally, each village followed Mr. Chen and became fat and full of all this. Without Mr. Chen's coordination, it would never have been possible just by relying on soldiers like Zhang and Xu.

Where can I find a Shangguan who gives officials and money like this?

"Sir, it's not safe for you to just take Mr. Tian across the river, isn't it? Why don't you send a few skilled brothers to go with you?"

Zhang Duofu certainly didn't want anything to happen to Chen Bokang, who had such a good thigh, so he looked extremely concerned.

Chen Bokang shook his head and said with a slight smile: "Commander Zhang, there is no need to worry too much."

While talking, several people had already approached the cargo ship. Seeing the bags of cotton piled up in the cabin, Chen Bokang couldn't help but sigh, "Huainan produces cotton, and Huaibei produces cloth. The price has more than ten times increased."

Although it was just an objective fact, Zhang Duofu and Tian Qinghou could hear Chen Bokang's heavy tone of regret.

However, there is no way to process cotton into cotton cloth, which requires multiple processes such as carding, cleaning, twisting, and spinning. The most labor-intensive process is spinning.

I don’t know what method Huaibei used, but the spinning efficiency was many times higher than that of Huainan, which brought about a huge price advantage.

Nowadays, the area for cotton cultivation in Huainan has expanded, but the number of women weaving has decreased significantly.

The cotton produced locally cannot be digested locally except for being sold to Huaibei.

Zhang Duofu also sighed and said: "Hey, my subordinates have heard that there is an animal-powered spinning machine in the spinning farm in Huaibei, which can hold eight spindles and spin eight strands of thread at the same time. This is just for this. Our hand-operated single-spindle spinning wheel It’s just not comparable.”

Chen Bokang said: "You said this is already old history. Last year, the Xinsheng Textile Factory already had a water-driven sixteen-spindle spinning machine." "Dear me! No wonder Huaibei cotton can be sold so cheaply!"

Zhang Duofu can naturally figure out this account. In the same working hours, the women in Huainan can spin one strand of cotton thread, while the Huaibei factory can spin sixteen strands of cotton thread.

In other words, one person can be like sixteen people!

With Zhang Duofu's situation, he could only envy the sixteen spinning machines in Huaibei.

But from Chen Bokang's perspective, what worries me is the "Huaibei dumping" that has gradually taken shape.

The dumping of cotton cloth destroyed the old production system in the vast Zhou Dynasty, or in rural areas for thousands of years. What the people relied on for survival was "men farmed and women weaved".

If Huaibei continues to expand production, the old small-scale agricultural production model of farmers will be destroyed soon.

Without the income of "weaving" for peasant women, the peasant family, which is already struggling with food and clothing, will definitely become worse. Once food becomes a problem, big trouble will occur.

If the farmers are unstable, the country will be in turmoil.

Thinking of this, Chen Bokang suddenly laughed and turned to look at Zhang Duofu, "Commander Zhang, I want to build a textile farm in Huainan. Do you have any intentions?"

Zhang Duofu was startled and said subconsciously: "Sir, we don't have those sixteen spinning wheels, how can we compete in Huaibei?"

"You don't have to worry about this. I have a way to get a spinning wheel. Now, Pei Weishu, the governor of Anfeng Military Prefecture, Xu Lu, the commander of the Tiger Wing Navy, and the commander of the Dingyuan Xiang Army."

Chen Bokang named five or six powerful civil and military officials in Huainan, and finally said: "They all have a stake in the textile field. Commander Zhang should think about it carefully and give me a confirmation letter in a few days."

Although Zhang Duofu still didn't know how Chen Bokang would solve the spinning wheel issue, but after hearing that so many people had joined, he knew that the matter was reliable, and he quickly clasped his fists and said, "I don't need to think about it! If you say it, do it, I will follow it!"

"Okay! Feel free, hahaha. When I return, I will send someone to discuss the details with you."

"Yes!"

In the early hours of the morning on the 21st, Chen Bokang boarded the ship with only one student.

The boat travels in the middle of the river.

Chen Bokang stood alone at the bow of the boat, with the strong wind blowing across the river, picking up his clothes and flying around.

Tian Qinghou walked out of the cabin and saw the slightly lonely figure of the teacher, and couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts.

Since the teacher took office in Huainan, he has been constantly collecting information about the pseudo-King of Qi and Chu on the other side, and even spent several days carefully reading the poems written by him.

This research is useful. Just like now, what the teacher is doing is almost copying the methods of the King of Chu in his early years. Last year, although the situation was slightly out of control, he finally used the hands of the King of Chu to get rid of many people who had been operating for hundreds of years. The stubborn gentry in Huainan reduced the greatest resistance to subsequent actions.

Later, he took the opportunity to win over and promote several military leaders such as Zhang Duofu and Xu Lu.

Now, with the interests of cultivating kapok and establishing spinning farms, he has united a group of Huainan civil and military officials around him.

When their interest group takes shape, isn't it the same situation Caizhou had in Qi State back then?

The reason why military leaders from various places in the Zhou Kingdom were not as domineering as those in the early Qi Kingdom was precisely because they had no financial power.

If Chen Bokang solves the problem of the military leader's source of wealth, then Huainan will

Although Tian Qinghou firmly believed that his teacher was loyal to Zhou Dynasty, nothing the teacher did at this time seemed to be what a loyal minister should plan.

"Hey" Tian Qinghou sighed in distress.

At two o'clock in the day, Chen Bokang came ashore at Binhuai.

The Huaibei Army took over and sent him to Caizhou overnight.

Twenty-one day, evening.

Chen Bokang was busy all the way, but he didn't care about rest. After entering the city, he went straight to the government office.

Brothers Chen Chu and Chen Jingyan met Chen Bokang in the relatively secret Third Flower Hall.

After being greeted, seated, and served tea, Chen Jingyan first politely expressed condolences to Chen Bokang for his hard work.

Even if each has his own master, but they are both scholars and their ancestors come from the same school, the proper etiquette should still be observed.

However, Chen Jingyan was being polite, and Chen Jing'an, who was playing a bad role, immediately took advantage of the fact that Zha Yongen, the prefect of Yangzhou at the beginning of the year, secretly incited Fan Shigui and others in Sizhou to rebel. "Chen Jinglue had a secret agreement with us, but he also indulged his subordinate Zha Yong'en. En is causing trouble! If Chen Jinglue doesn't do something, I will have to doubt Chen Jinglue's sincerity."

"That's why I came here. The King of Chu should know that Zha Yong'en is my thorn in the side of Huainan Road. He relies on the support of Wan Qixi in the court and does not take my words seriously."

When Chen Bokang explained, he did not face Chen Jingan, who was attacking him, but instead smiled bitterly at Chen Chu.

Chen Chu took a sip of tea and did not respond. Chen Jing'an continued to say rudely: "Chen Jinglue used many methods, but he couldn't control a prefect?"

When Chen Bokang heard this, he pondered for a moment, lowered his eyes and said sarcastically: "Now, De Lian is the commander of the Henan Road, and Yuan Zhang is the King of Chu who controls the soldiers and horses of the Qi State. Isn't it possible that Fan Shigui and others can't be harmed?"

With these words, Chen Jingan mocked Chen Bokang on Huainan Economic Strategy for not being able to control his subordinates. Chen Bokang mocked Huaibei Economic Strategy and Chen Jing'an plus the King of Chu, but they could not handle Fan Shigui.

This is indeed a pain point for Huaibei. Firstly, Huaibei did not have any evidence of Fan Shigui and others' rebellion. Secondly, they stopped their actions after hearing about Hebei's victory.

If they continue to kill by force, the gentry who have finally calmed down will be panicked again.

But saying this made people look shameless. Even Chen Jingyan, who was pretending to be a white-faced person, couldn't hold it back and said displeasedly: "Master Chen crossed the river at starry night just to quarrel with us?"

This time, Chen Bokang did not retort. Instead, he smiled abruptly and said something that was completely unrelated to him at first, "When I was young, I had a boil. The pain made me restless and tossing and turning. It's hateful. The boil was on my back, and I couldn't reach it with my hands. I couldn't squeeze it open and drain out the sepsis. Can you guess how I got rid of the boil?"

Chen Chu, who had been silent from beginning to end, suddenly laughed when he heard this, "It's not difficult! Just find a friend and help Mr. Chen squeeze through!"

"That's exactly what it is! Hahaha." Chen Bokang also laughed.

The people sitting there were all old ghosts. Chen Jing'an naturally understood it, but he heard him say: "Did Mr. Chen squeeze the boil on Mr. Chen's friend's back?"

Chen Bokang said: "Of course it's crowded! My friend healed my pain, how could I just stand by and watch his illness!"

Chen Jingyan, who was the last to understand, finally realized that the boils were referring to the forces in their respective territories that they wanted to eliminate but were unable to do so due to various reasons.

The boils in Huainan are caused by Cha Yongen.

The boils in Huaibei are caused by Fan Shigui.

Since it's not convenient for everyone to do it themselves, let's help each other.

Chen Jingyan, who was the slowest to react, quickly added in order to avoid appearing stupid: "In this case, you and I will have to have a good exchange of words afterwards to make it appear real."

"This is natural. Haha, if I, Huaibao, scold Chen Jinglue severely, please don't blame Chen Jinglue."

"Haha, each other."

The two Chen Jinglues bowed their hands to each other at the same time.

After checking my eyes, I met the right person.

(End of this chapter)