There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 45 Talents are everywhere
  After sending away Jingzhu Bo, Lin Feng returned to the cell with Zhuang Laodao, the copycat military advisor, to release the merchant and learn about the situation.

"My lord, my lord, you are finally back." The merchant on the side greeted him warmly.

"Mr. Zhuang, let him out. Who is this?" Lin Feng ordered.

"Yes! These are merchants who were doing business on the grassland. When they came back, they were intercepted by Gui Feng's men. More than 1500 taels of silver were found on them, which was the bulk of their income this year. So they were detained instead of killed, and they were ready to extort another sum. Ransom." Zhuang Laodao answered as he opened the cell door.

"Sir, the younger one is Duan Liang, a merchant from Yan'an Prefecture. He travels to the grassland every year to do some small business. It has been more than ten days since he was kidnapped and taken to the village. The family must be worried. Please have mercy on me and let him go home as soon as possible." The Chinese merchant came out and said, cupping his hands.

"You should go out and have a rest for now. I will ask you about the situation on the grassland when I get back. If there is no problem, I will let you go back as soon as possible. We are members of the government and we will definitely not detain you without reason." Lin Feng asked. .

"Thank you, sir! The little one will go find a place to wash up first. He's almost moldy after being locked up in prison for so long." Duan Liang responded.

After seeing Lin Feng nodding in agreement, a member of the Minzhuang team led Duan Liang and the others out first.

"Who is locked up here?" Lin Feng asked as he walked to the last cell and looked at the injured and dying young man.

"This is a firearms craftsman who made a mistake in the capital and was sentenced to be exiled to the Yulin Guards. It is said that his surname is Zhao. He is a descendant of a firearms master. He was accidentally kidnapped by the second master and went to the mountain. Gust of Wind wanted to recruit him to make firearms for the village. This man's bones He was very tough and refused to give in, so he was beaten like this.

If it weren't for his talent, he would have been thrown off the cliff to feed the wolves. " Old Taoist Zhuang replied disapprovingly. How could he, a shabby Taoist priest, see the value of a firearms talent?

"Open the cell door!" When Lin Feng heard this, he was truly a God-given talent.

Upon entering the prison, he found that Craftsman Zhao was in very poor condition. The wounds on his body had begun to become inflamed and suppurated. His forehead was hot and he had a high fever. He was moaning unconsciously. If he was not treated in time, he would probably not be able to survive today.

Even if treated in time, it would be difficult to save him in the Ming Dynasty. But who is Lin Feng? The chosen one who traveled through time and space. The main reason is that he happens to have emergency medicine in his hand. Oh, there are emergency medicine in space. It is not a big problem to treat the inflammation caused by this kind of trauma.

So, Lin Feng asked the others to leave temporarily, and he quickly entered the space and took out the first aid kit from the flight attendant's suitcase. He checked that anti-inflammatory drugs, iodophor, Yunnan Baiyao, bandages, trauma cleaning scalpels, etc. were all complete, and he immediately Take it out.

First, the injured young man was given two cephalosporin anti-inflammatory drugs and water, and then he used a scalpel to carefully scrape off the suppurated skin until the bright red intact muscles were exposed. He then disinfected with iodophor, applied Yunnan Baiyao, and finally used non-toxic Bacteria bandage.

Fortunately, the man was already unconscious, but the corners of his mouth were still twitching in pain.

After finishing all this work, Lin Feng also had some sweat on his forehead. Considering that this man is a rare talent with firearms, the fatigue is worth it.

"Xiaoyu, please move him outside first, increase ventilation, take good care of him, and then call me over when he wakes up." After Lin Feng treated the wound, he called Fang Xiaoyu in to arrange it.

Gaoliang Village, Juyi Hall.

Lin Feng took a sip of tea and asked: "Duan Liang, what business do you want to do in the grassland?"

"Sir, I mainly sell tea bricks, cloth and salt. Sometimes I also bring a small amount of ironware such as iron pots, but this Great Wall pass needs to be inspected, so I can only bring a little occasionally."

"Is it just entrapment? I heard it was mainly based on sending money." Lin Feng naturally knew the virtues of the border guards.

"This, this, your Excellency is really aware of everything. He did send money to the border guards. If he didn't send money, he wouldn't even let normal merchandise pass." Duan Liang admitted awkwardly.

"Then when you come back, will you bring any products?"

"Sir, there are only horses and sheep on the grassland. There are no valuable commodities. Sometimes I bring back some war horses, cattle and sheep, but not many."

"Where's the wool? Why don't you buy some and bring it back?"

"Sir, wool is worthless on the grassland. It's greasy, gets dirty easily, and is hard to wash. People on the grassland don't like to use it. Who would bring this?"

When Lin Feng heard this, it seemed that this wool had almost no cost on the grassland. As long as it was transported out, he could make money. When his wool degreasing technology matured, he would definitely make a fortune.

Moreover, Fugu is close to the border of the Great Wall and has unique conditions for doing business with the grassland tribes.

When he thought of this, Lin Feng's interest in Duan Liang increased significantly.

"Duan Liang, I wonder how much money you can earn by walking on the grasslands and doing business in a year? Don't worry, I am not a bandit, and I will not ask for your money out of thin air. I just want to understand the profits of grassland trade."

"Sir, you are my savior, and I will not hide it from you. The gross profit of merchants in the grassland is still quite high, which can be doubled, but the expenses are also very high. Just to manage the military leaders at each level, you have to spend 20% of the value of the goods. At 30%, when I return to Yan'an Prefecture, I still have to take care of the government officials. It would be good to earn one or two thousand taels after a hard work year."

"What about the risks?" "My lord, the risks are even greater. For example, if we are kidnapped by Gaoliang Mountain bandits again, we will lose all our money. There are also many horse bandits on the grassland. There are risks everywhere, and there is nothing we can do about it." , that’s why he insisted on traveling on the grassland trade route." Duan Liang took the opportunity to pour water into the river.

Although the commercial taxes in the Ming Dynasty were very low, and officials and businessmen often colluded to avoid paying taxes, the yamen at all levels also had great discretion over merchants.

Especially in the Ming Dynasty, there was a wardrobe system. The so-called liners are the households recorded in the official records and are responsible for purchasing items assigned by the court and officials at all levels. Because the purchase prices given by the court and the government are generally very low, ordinary merchants will lose their money after purchasing the linens.

The grain head policy in this rural area is similar. If the grain tax cannot be paid, the grain head is the only one to ask. This business and grain head are important means for the government to exploit merchants and small landowners. Therefore, small and medium-sized businessmen are generally afraid of government officials and are often exploited.

"Duan Liang, if there was a place where it was clarified that businessmen would be taxed 20% per value of output, without any other administrative expenses, and without exploitation by subordinate staff, you would be willing to come and do business."

"Of course, the management fee is far more than the twenty-one tax." Duan Liang replied without hesitation. He was fed up with the exploitation of subordinate officials.

"If someone is willing to provide protection for you, a grassland merchant, including providing some business opportunities, how much profit are you willing to give up?"

"If our safety can be guaranteed, the villain is willing to give up half of the profits. As for other business opportunities, it depends on the situation." Duan Liang thought for a while and replied.

"Very good, then on behalf of Fugu, I would like to welcome you to come to our place to do business. According to the law, the tax is twenty to one. If any subordinate staff come to harass you, you can just report it to the county government and I will make the decision for you."

Lin Feng considered that after the centralized shops in the county agricultural market were built, he would need to recruit high-quality merchants, and at the same time regulate the business order and promote the prosperity of business.

"Do you take what you say seriously?"

"Of course, seriously, you can go back home first, and then come to Fugu for on-site inspection as soon as possible. If you feel it is not suitable, I will never force you."

"Sir, for your life-saving grace, I will definitely go to Fugu to take a look and open a store. Even if I lose money, I can afford it." Duan Liang thought in his mind that if the environment in Fugu is good, he will expand the scale. One point, if it is similar to Yan'an Prefecture, opening a small shop can be regarded as an explanation.

"Okay, then you go home first. A lot of money from the robbery of the cottage has been used up. You can take 500 taels back with you." Lin Feng ordered. If you want to win the trust of others, you must not be stingy. It was the same in the Ming Dynasty, where talents were the most precious.

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!" Duan Liang did not expect such an unexpected surprise, so he went down the mountain with great gratitude.

"Sir, the young man in the prison is awake." Fang Xiaoyu came over to report.

"Let's go take a look." After Lin Feng said that, he walked out.

When I came to the outer room of the cell, I saw that the young man on the bed had already sat up and was drinking a bowl of thin porridge with the help of a strong Banmin Zhuang.

"This is the Prime Minister of our Gulin County. He personally led people up the mountain to rescue you." The Minzhuang team member saw Lin Feng coming in and introduced.

"Thank you for saving my life, sir. Although I couldn't move while lying down last night, I was not completely unconscious. I vaguely knew that it was you who came out of the prison and killed the bandits." The young man said as he struggled to get up and salute.

"Your injury hasn't healed yet, don't move." Lin Feng quickly dissuaded him.

"Sir, I am Zhao Zhixin, the firearms instructor of the Beijing Craftsman Camp. My ancestor is Zhao Shizhen. I know a little bit of the ancestral firearms forging skills." The young man introduced himself.

"But Zhao Shizhen and Zhao Sheren, the Ming Dynasty firearms expert who wrote the "Artifact Spectrum"?" Lin Feng had seen Zhao Shizhen's introduction in the "A Brief History of the Development of World Light Weapons" and knew that he was the most talented Ming Dynasty firearms expert during the Wanli period. .

"It is our ancestor, but our ancestor was upright by nature and never held any high-ranking official position in his life. Most of the family property was used for firearms research. We, the Zhao family, could only earn a living at the Anmin Factory, which manufactures firearms. Our ancestor has always taught us When manufacturing firearms, we must be responsible to our soldiers and insist on quality first.

Because I refused to cooperate with the factory eunuchs in making fake firearm holsters to get money during the firearms production process, they placed the responsibility for an explosion of a cannon on my head and sent me to the frontier.

Some time ago, I was kidnapped by a stronghold and taken up the mountain. The bandit leader learned of my origin and forced me to make firearms for him. How could I, a noble scholar, be a thief? Of course I refused, so I was beaten like this.

If it hadn't been for the help of adults, I would definitely have died. "It can be seen that Zhao Zhixin is very grateful to Lin Feng and introduced his situation in detail.

"You don't have to be polite when you learn something new. Your Zhao family has been loyal for generations. Now we are in troubled times. Tartars and bandits are raging. It is the time to serve the country. You should take good care of your health first. I will tell you later." Lin Feng also said. Don't worry, such talents should be slowly incorporated into your own system.

"Thank you, sir, but don't dare to disobey your orders." Zhao Zhixin replied.

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  (End of this chapter)