warring states careerist

Chapter 733 Evil Trade
In the evening of the same day, the person in charge of the chamber of commerce came to Lord Linwu's mansion.

Lord Linwu stood outside the court to welcome each other, without too many etiquette requirements, he said straightly: "The people in your caravan are rich in gold, and they are the kings of the 'plain seal', and we are the real seal kings. It's only natural that courts should be courteous."

The etiquette of the two sides is completely different. The Mohists have been accused of "thrift and abolition of etiquette", and they have always demanded equality and rejected any etiquette with differences in status.

Lord Linwu dealt with Mohist people a lot, so he didn't care about it. He was not a Confucian gentleman, but a feudal monarch.

After entering the inner room and repelling others, Lord Linwu began to talk about the rice trade.

The person in charge of the caravan's discussion immediately showed an excited expression, and said: "If this matter can be accomplished, it will be of great benefit. Lechang Gorge was built by tens of thousands of people, and the transportation of grain and grass is difficult. If a deal can be concluded, it will be beneficial to both parties."

"When the Lechang Gorge is completed, Linwu will be the place where the trade between Lingnan and Lingbei will be handed over."

Lord Linwu tentatively asked: "Recently, the barbarian people are disobedient to the kings of Xia, and there are many rebellions, or escape into the mountains, and plunder villages from time to time. As a king, I have the responsibility to protect the land and the people, and I just need some weapons. I wonder if these grains can be traded for muskets?"

If the Mo family intends to join the martial arts, Lord Lin Wu feels that the Mo family will not agree to this deal.

The largest controlling shareholder of the Nanhai Chamber of Commerce is the Mo family, and the decision-making power is also in the hands of the Mo family, not those independent businessmen who are looking for profit.

If it is a single profit-seeking businessman, not to mention muskets, when Zhongshan became independent, the merchants of Wei State had not been continuously lending to Lord Zhongshan, and also invested in Zhongshan by the way, providing a large amount of weapons and food.

Just looking at the individual attitude of the merchant, nothing can be seen.

Lord Linwu needs muskets, especially the Mohists' willingness to continue selling muskets.

With the changes in the mode of warfare, as well as the changes in planting techniques and the intensification of exploitation, the original "Xiangshe" military system for selecting archers is no longer feasible.

The cost of the crossbow is too high and the cycle is too long. Lord Linwu needs a large number of muskets to maintain long-range projection troops.

In the past few years, he has purchased nearly [-] firearms from the Mo family, and sold them to other lords besides his own use.

Because muskets cannot pass through Linwuguan, the risk of smuggling is too high, and Linwu Lord can make a profit by buying and reselling it himself.

Regardless of whether it is used by oneself or sold to other lords, the profit of muskets is the highest.

The person from the chamber of commerce who was in charge of this negotiation on the other side heard the words and agreed wholeheartedly.

On the surface, he is a member of the chamber of commerce, but in fact he is a secret agent who belongs to the general staff in Sishang.

Regarding the musket trade, there have been some discussions on Sishang. Of course, the content of the discussion is no longer the idealistic "whether selling muskets will cause war to harm the world" as it was 20 years ago; but "is selling muskets to potential enemies harmful to us unfavorable" utility.

This is a secret discussion, not public, few people know about it.

The secret Mohist who is in charge of the negotiation doesn't know either.

In fact, in that secret discussion, the suggestion given by Shi was to sell at will.

One is that the quenching method of the leaf spring of the flint gun is a secret. Except for the Qin people who found another way, other countries do not have the ability to make leaf springs.Without a suitable leaf spring, the flint gun was impossible to use, and the rate of fire was too low to use a matchlock.

Now Sishang is undergoing a large-scale change of equipment, and those eliminated matchlock guns are generally used in remote areas, or distributed to the public for fun.

But there are still a lot of them, and they can all be sold to other countries, not to mention Chu, or Wei, which has the most tense relationship with the Mohists. As long as they give money, food, deerskin, saltpeter and mercury, they can sell them. .

The second is to say when it is appropriate that a war is not won by one or two weapons. The change of the entire military system required to replace the matchlock gun requires the cooperation of cavalry, artillery and armored spearmen. The central government can only be in a subordinate position. It is not easy for the private soldiers of the monarchs of various countries to use muskets and formations well.

A phalanx without artillery cover is fragile. No matter how disciplined it is, without artillery cover, it is in the position of being slaughtered. The well-known bloody battle of Hunhe in later generations was lost by artillery.

The changes in the entire military system, training, and tactics cannot be mastered by the princes in a short time, especially under the system of combining agriculture and soldiers, it is not suitable for this type of warfare.

The third is that all countries are reforming, the royal power is concentrated, and the elite troops directly under the royal power have muskets. Sell, but also a big sale.

Under this premise, if you send it down to the chamber of commerce, you can sell it at will, and you won’t be afraid if you sell it. People use weapons. If there is no change under the monarchy system, people who use weapons will also become the help of the righteousness of the world in the future. .

Before the person in charge of negotiating from the chamber of commerce came, there were only two orders: buy grain and sell guns.

Now that Lord Linwu proposed it himself, the Mohist said without hesitation: "Of course it is possible. The price is according to the previous price, no more or less. As for gunpowder, it is still according to the previous price, except for gold. In addition to silver, copper and various goods, a certain amount of saltpeter is also needed."

When Linwu Lord heard this, he was also relieved, knowing that if the Mo family continued to sell muskets to him, then it seemed that they had no intention of using force in the direction of Linwu.

Thinking about it again, the Central Plains War five years ago, although Sishang benefited the most and suffered the least damage, I am afraid that it will not be able to support a large-scale war in just four years.

Thinking about it, it should be because they want to control the war within the territory of the Song Dynasty. I am afraid that the Sishang Mo family also has some intentions to form an alliance to solve the Song Dynasty's affairs.

Since the Chamber of Commerce chose to sell it openly, Lord Linwu said, "This time, I want to buy [-] pieces. And [-] catties of gunpowder."

The quantity of [-] sticks is neither too much nor too little. Last year, it sold [-] sticks to Song State at one time; it also sold [-] sticks to Zhongshan State at one time. The trade unions made a lot of money.

A large amount of herbal medicine, copper, gold, silver, mercury, and grains are constantly running from the treasuries of various countries to Sishang. With the increase of commodities, there is a panic of copper coins in all countries, and there are even rumors that Zhou Tianzi melted all Jiuding I don't know if it's true or not after making money.

Under the money shortage, the precious metal smelting industry in various countries is advancing by leaps and bounds. Finding gold and silver has become the dream of many people. Some people even went to Juli to cross the sea and look south.

A large number of precious metals are concentrated on Sishang, which also makes the banknotes on Sishang strong. Except for small currencies that still use copper, large currencies are replaced by banknotes, and even become jewels in the eyes of nobles in various countries. .

Lord Linwu has some large banknotes in his hand, but the amount cannot be too much.

If you want to buy so many muskets, you will definitely not be able to rely on food alone.

A person from the chamber of commerce asked: "Muskets and gunpowder are not a problem. In terms of trading..."

Lord Linwu smiled and said: "For the transaction, of course you don't need to go through Linwu Pass. I'll send someone to pick it up. It's not a problem."

"One part is traded in grain, and the other part, I conquered the barbarians in those poor mountains and withered places, and captured many people. Isn't there a shortage of people in the South China Sea? We can sell these people to pay for a thousand guns."

According to the current price, about two strong young people can exchange for a musket. There are no slaves on the Mohist side, only long-term workers with equal personalities in name. They were nationals and completed the land reform, freed a large number of slaves and village serfs, and enriched the population of self-cultivating farmers.

However, with the support of the government at the top and the new people working hard for themselves, there is a labor shortage in many places, and the cost of hiring labor has greatly increased.

Under such circumstances, the sinful trade unfolds naturally.

The lords in some remote areas of Chu State attacked those small settlements and captured the population; in the more remote areas in the south of the South China Sea, the city-states and ethnic groups fought with each other, arrested and sold each other's people; some people even took boats to some islands in the south of the South China Sea Catch people.

Relying on natural development, the development of the Lingnan area will not be completed until the Chinese migrated southward hundreds of years later and the Tang and Song Dynasties.

The result of forced development is that there is a shortage of people everywhere, and Sishang needs a very large population to enrich these areas with development potential, so that they can quickly become Zhuxia and Sishang.

There is a special department on Si, which specializes in this kind of trade. Once the goods are shipped, they will sign a long-term contract. The basic work will have a contract period of several years. After the contract is over, an identity card will be issued and a small piece of land will be distributed.

This unscrupulous and evil way of development has led to the development of a large number of farmland and farms in the South China Sea in just a few years.

For a thousand muskets, Linwu Lord needs to pay about 3000 to [-] young people, all of which were captured by Linwu Lord outside his jurisdiction.

Not long after the state of Chu conquered Cangwu, many cities and towns were scattered along the river like stars, and only within a hundred miles outside the cities were there effective rulers.

The rest of the places are the places where the defeated Cangwu and other people hid and migrated. Lord Linwu has his own army for this purpose.

However, Linwu is in an awkward position, and there is not much benefit in opening up more land, and it needs special supervision, and it is easy to flee. Under the feudal system, the manpower that Lord Linwu can control is not enough at all. To implement effective jurisdiction, selling is undoubtedly the best way to profit.

The people from the Chamber of Commerce heard the words and did not refuse.The trade in the South China Sea and its surrounding areas mainly requires raw materials, gold, silver and precious metals, and population.

Every person trafficked can be converted into soldiers and labor after a few years.

Lord Linwu arrests people locally, and people tend to flee, and his management methods are too low, so it is better to sell them for money.

If you sell it to Sishang, you can exchange it for a weapon.Although the people of Chu arrogantly called me a barbarian, in fact I was still a part of Zhuxia. I had the ability to organize and crush the surrounding areas. With the addition of the firearms sold on Sishang, I was even more powerful, arresting people. Slaves are very profitable.

(End of this chapter)