Chapter 103: The Management of Maritime Merchants (IV)
The maritime merchant conference was not held at the seaside, and Feng Yukuan requested that it be held in Linzi County. Huo Chong couldn't help but feel that something was a bit strange. In the end, Huo Chong could only discuss the matter with Yang Youfang, his most outspoken friend.
When Yang Youfang heard Huo Chong asking about the various underworld brothers, his expression did not look very good, and he asked directly: "Master Huo, do you want to engage in human trafficking?"
Huo Chong found that when people of this era mentioned the underworld, they would always mention human trafficking, so he simply asked directly: "Brother Yang, I can make enough money to support so many people by doing legitimate business. Do you think I would engage in the business of human trafficking?"
Yang Youfang was already one of Huo Chong's partners, mainly engaged in cargo transportation. Of course, when passing through the customs, they had to use Huo Chong's name, and Yang Youfang was responsible for the safety of the escort. Seeing Huo Chong's straightforward words, Yang Youfang was puzzled by Huo Chong's serious inquiry into the underworld business.
Huo Chong told Yang Youfang about the deeds of Li Daoqiong, the Dragon King of Mouping County, and asked him what kind of people Li Daoqiong belonged to. Yang Youfang had already frowned when he heard it, and when Huo Chong finished speaking, Yang Youfang replied angrily: "Master Huo, the people of the Green Forest colluded with the White Road to deal with the brothers of the Road Road, which broke the rules."
"Rules are rules because someone has to deal with those who break the rules. Even if Li Daoqiong does this, he is still alive and well."
"When Li Daoqiong asks his fellow underworld men for help, we'll make him suffer." Yang Youfang replied hatefully.
Huo Chong felt that this was the same as not saying anything. What is a brother seeking the truth? Isn't the kidnapping and harassment that Li Daoqiong did the behavior of the underworld?
When Huo Chong told Yang Youfang his doubts in the most straightforward words, Yang Youfang was at a loss for words. Finally, he simply asked Huo Chong, "Master Huo, how do you want to deal with Li Daoqiong?"
"I want to deal with Li Daoqiong. It would be best if I could catch him and send him to the government. But if I do this, I think my brothers in the underworld will think that I am not just dealing with Li Daoqiong, but also dealing with my brothers in the underworld."
Hearing Huo Chong's doubts, Yang Youfang frowned. After chatting with Huo Chong for a while and exchanging opinions, Yang Youfang suddenly realized. He looked at him with a helpless expression, "Haha, Master Huo, are you going to lead the brothers in the underworld?"
Huo Chong was shocked, and the description of "the people's eyes are sharp" popped up in his mind. Huo Chong had to admire this sentence for its profound insight. Yang Youfang did not know what Huo Chong was thinking deep in his heart, but this did not prevent him from making accurate inferences based on what he had seen.
What Yang Yongfang sees now is Huo Chong’s ambition to lead the smuggling forces. When Huo Chong reveals his other ambitions in the future, how many people will be able to see through it?
Providing services to the brothers on the road and then organizing a platform for smugglers is only the first step that Huo Chong expects. If possible, Huo Chong also expects this platform to play a greater role in future actions against the Qing Dynasty.
No matter how the Qing dynasty talks nonsense, Huo Chong has never considered the legitimacy of overthrowing the Qing dynasty. Because Huo Chong did not think that the Qing dynasty had any legitimacy from the beginning. Whether the Qing dynasty can be overthrown is just a matter of power comparison, not a moral issue.
Just as Huo Chong was lost in thought, he heard Yang Youfang say, "Master Huo, no one can stand what Li Daoqiong did. I think you should just gather your brothers and destroy Li Daoqiong's place. You can't deal with Li Daoqiong even though he treated you like this. How can the brothers in the underworld obey you?"
"If I take care of Li Daoqiong, will the brothers in the underworld be convinced? I don't think so. People always believe in reciprocity..."
Yang Youfang interrupted Huo Chong with a puzzled and mocking look, "Brothers on the road are not scholars, they don't care about these things. You treat those who treat you well, and you punish those who treat you badly. This is the rule of brothers on the road."
After saying that, Yang Youfang couldn't help laughing out loud, "Haha, Master Huo, if you still want to hang out with the underworld brothers like this, you can only hang out in the officialdom like this. The underworld brothers are all bloodthirsty people, and the brothers will listen to whoever has the final say at this moment. If Master Huo takes care of Li Daoqiong, everyone will only think that Li Daoqiong provoked someone he couldn't afford to offend. The so-called Master Huo used the white way to take care of Li Daoqiong, that's all an excuse."
Huo Chong felt relieved. As one of the leaders of Baji Sect, Yang Youfang's views should represent the mainstream attitude of the sect. If the matter was just that simple, Huo Chong would be relieved.
After returning, Huo Chong sent someone to tell Feng Yukuan that if the sea merchants were not afraid to come to Linzi County, Huo Chong, as a person who had business in Linzi County, would certainly do his duty as a host.
After sending out the people, Huo Chong sent people to make arrangements for reception according to the scale of merchants coming from afar to buy goods. Now the number of merchants coming to buy goods far exceeds Huo Chong's imagination, and the platform has set up a department responsible for reception.
Just after Huo Chong gave the order, the reception department welcomed a new wave of visitors. Merchants from Beijing and Jinan were not the only ones who came to buy goods. Nearly half of Huo Chong's total goods were bought by local merchants from Shandong. Especially the liquor brewed by Huo Chong, because it was cheap and strong enough, it was already in short supply.
It was after the autumn harvest, and after the buyers had paid, the sales department would go to the cattle pen to sign up donkeys and deliver barrels of wine to the countryside.
Wu Cheng finally got to the team in the bustling crowd and got a donkey. The donkey was obviously not very stable. When the special rack was placed on the donkey's back, the donkey started to lose its temper. Wu Cheng was afraid to do it himself, so he asked the fellow villager who came to buy wine to stand by the pile and watch the donkey, and he went to the traffic office to find the donkey master.
Several people gathered around a master, asking him to help. The angry master shouted, "Are you trying to kill me? I can't handle so many people. Go borrow a car!"
Wu Cheng arrived late and didn't dare to argue with his senior colleagues. He could only go to the vehicle department, which was better. There were a lot of small cars there. Hearing that Wu Cheng only bought 200 kilograms of wine, the driver's face was not very good.
Wu Cheng also felt uncomfortable when he heard other colleagues start at 500 kilograms. But this time he was delivering wine to his hometown after all, so Wu Cheng decisively said that he needed a car. Maybe there were not enough cars, so the vehicle department finally gave him a small car.
Although the donkey was not satisfied, it regained its composure after chewing half a carrot. Wu Cheng and his fellow villager who bought the wine finally drove the cart towards their hometown.
Wu Cheng was not the only one traveling with them. There were at least two people in each car. In addition, there was more than one car going in that direction, so a team of seven or eight cars started moving forward.
Just after walking for more than ten miles, something unhappy happened. Some people who came to buy wine wanted to ride in the car. However, the car was not for transporting people, but for transporting goods. Of course, the people on Huo Chong's side were unwilling, and the two sides soon became unhappy. The wine buyer on the other side kept nagging, saying that the car was for people to ride. He drove forward angrily.
Wu Cheng sold less wine, so everyone put their gifts on the empty seats. Wu Cheng looked at his fellow villager, fearing that he would ask for a ride. It would be difficult to agree or not.
Fortunately, the fellow villager did not say this, until the vehicles separated and until the evening rest, the fellow villager was very considerate. He walked on his own. During the rest time, the fellow villager wanted to have a drink to relieve his fatigue. Wu Cheng did not dare to drink, so he responded with discipline.
The fellow villager had no idea what the word "discipline" meant. He ate the rabbit meat provided by Wu Cheng and others, and soon immersed himself in the feeling of taking a sip of wine and a few bites of meat. He soon forgot about the matter.
Wu Cheng didn't want to waste time talking, so he started talking about how the wine was selling. The fellow villager sighed, "This wine doesn't taste good."
Wu Cheng was not surprised by such comments. This wine was indeed not as good as rice wine. Rice wine was brewed from grains and cereals, and different techniques would indeed produce different tastes. But overall, the aroma was much better than Shaodaozi.
"If it doesn't taste good, will it sell well?" Wu Cheng asked.
It was obvious that the fellow was dizzy after just a few sips of wine. He sighed with such energy: "This wine is cheap. I can fall asleep after drinking it. I only feel a little dizzy after drinking one catty of rice wine. But after drinking two ounces of this wine, I feel dizzy. I have to sleep. Food is so expensive now, what else can I drink but this?"
As they were talking, everyone felt sleepy, so they tidied up and lay down to sleep.
There was no conversation all night. Before dawn, everyone woke up. They quickly ate something and continued on their way. When they arrived at their hometown, they first delivered the wine to the store and then went home. They gave the wages to their parents, who immediately smiled. They kept praising Wu Cheng's ability to his brothers and sisters.
Seeing his brothers' helpless expressions, Wu Cheng persuaded his parents to join the Fuzhi Association. After hearing this, his parents were finally a little moved, but Wu Cheng's eldest brother said, "If we sell our land, it will be useless to join the Fuzhi Association."
"Brother, why are you talking about selling the land again?" Wu Cheng was a little surprised.
Perhaps because he had just received Wu Cheng's wages, his father also expressed his opposition, "Now the rent has increased by another 10%. If we sell the land, how can we afford food?"
Hearing this, a colleague in the same group as Wu Cheng asked, "Uncle, how much is the rent here?"
"Alas! The landlords here said that the imperial court has changed the tax system and no longer collects the tax on land. But they have raised the rent from 50% to 60%. Some people even say that they will raise the rent to 70%. Landowners like this will starve to death!"
Wu Cheng didn't expect that he had only worked for Huo Chong for a year, and the village would be like this. He originally thought that if he earned more money, he could at least help pay taxes for his family. Now Wu Cheng is even more nervous. It seems that he must earn more money to help his family buy land. Otherwise, with the 60% rent, he may not be able to eat after working for a year.
Back at the Zichuan County headquarters, Wu Cheng and his colleagues followed the rules and told the person in charge of the inquiry what they had learned about the family situation. Wu Cheng felt that he had just completed a task, so he let it go. But the people in the platform intelligence department did not let it go, and they gathered all the information again and sent it to the higher-ups.
With the data, we can start analyzing it. As long as we can read and have received training, we can roughly see the changes in the situation. Both land rent and food prices are on the rise.
There are also personnel who have received more advanced training who have summarized more information and can even make a connection. The number of landless farmers seeking work in the county town began to increase. Whether it is Zichuan County, Linzi County, or Muping County, including more distant county towns and prefecture capitals, there are new grain shops. It can be seen that grain trading has become more active.
Huo Chong's starch-based food processing and sales also developed with this wave of changes. In particular, the sales of cheap candies, rabbit meat, and cheap wine far exceeded previous expectations. Most of the buyers were landless farmers who came to the city to seek work.
This made the analysis department feel very strange. After the department head Wan Qian told Huo Chong about this situation, she asked Huo Chong what he thought.
Huo Chong smiled bitterly. He had really seen the life of migrant workers, strong liquor, meat, cheap sweets. These 21st century workers had a great demand for these.
But this cannot be said. No one would believe it even if it was said. Huo Chong explained: "These people buy these because they are hungry. These things are actually more cost-effective than cooking."
"It's more cost-effective than cooking for yourself?" Wan Qian was a little confused. Not only Wan Qian, but also the intelligence department personnel did not believe it.
Huo Chong chuckled, "If you don't believe me, then compare it. I'll give you the same amount of money, and you can try to cook and buy food by yourself. Practice makes perfect."
In order not to give these young people an opportunity for air-to-air combat, Huo Chong asked the intelligence department to make a plan that day and start trying for five consecutive days starting the next day.
After arranging this matter, Huo Chong continued his preparations as the host. Feng Yukuan had already sent someone to rush over and asked to prepare for the meeting immediately. I don't know why this guy is so anxious.
The second disciple Yang Wangfu was accompanying Huo Chong in this meeting. When Yang Wangfu heard that they were so anxious, he frowned slightly and felt relieved without thinking about it. Huo Chong asked, "Wangfu, what do you think these people think?"
"Sir, I think these people want to get started quickly to avoid any further complications." Yang Wangfu explained.
Huo Chong felt that this "long night, many dreams" seemed to have too many meanings. He was wondering what Yang Wangfu meant when Yang Wangfu explained himself, "Sir, these people are not doing any legitimate business. How can they be as open and aboveboard as we are when we go out?"
Yang Wangfu spoke confidently, and Huo Chong smiled bitterly. No matter how many years this era had been, Huo Chong still couldn't regard those who engaged in foreign trade as inferior. But in the eyes of his second apprentice, these guys who made a living by simply engaging in foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty were no longer decent people.
Feng Yukuan was not lying. On the third day after Huo Chong and Yang Wangfu finished their conversation, they arrived in Linzi County. Yang Wangfu followed Huo Chong and greeted these brothers who were traveling by sea. After just a brief contact, Yang Wangfu's expression was no longer as relaxed as before.
Looking at Yang Wangfu's reaction, Huo Chong could fully understand. The people who came were all young, the oldest was Feng Yukuan, who was about 40 years old, and the others were in their early 30s.
In addition to being young and strong, the demeanor of these people is very alert. Even those who look calm have eyes as sharp as knives.
Yang Wangfu was also a martial artist, so his eyes were not very gentle. However, compared with this group of people, he still felt like a puppy facing a hungry wolf. The instinctive feeling of uneasiness was not because Yang Wangfu was useless, but because the people in front of him were indeed very different from the people Yang Wangfu usually came into contact with.
The meeting place was some distance from the county town, and outside the house stood the men brought by the merchants. Huo Chong told everyone that each person could only bring one follower in. No one objected.
Outside the house were some vicious followers. Inside the house were some very vicious leaders. Feng Yukuan was the oldest and sat in the first seat. At this time, he also showed a look that he rarely showed in front of Huo Chong. With a fierce look, Feng Yukuan said: "Brothers, we are meeting here at Brother Huo's place today. If you have anything to discuss, just say it directly."
With this refreshing beginning, the hostility on the faces of the merchants obviously increased.
